


Conversations and Candy Bars

by Dawnwolf17



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Deadpool Thought Boxes, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Intent to Over Dose on Drugs, M/M, References to Drugs, Reincarnation, Slow Build, Soulmates, Suicidal Thoughts, TW: Self Harm, Wade is a sweetheart, ex-military wade, homeless Wade, mentions of Anixety and Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8817724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawnwolf17/pseuds/Dawnwolf17
Summary: When Wade's husband died his whole world fell apart. He lost everything. But meeting a strangely kindhearted boy in a back alley might just be enough to change his life around again.





	1. Casual meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So I'll just throw it out there that this is my first fanfic, it is very much unbeta-ed (so if anyone would maybe want to fill that position I would be hugely grateful) and I have had a hell of a time trying to write this. I apologize for the length of this and I will try to get better as it goes seeing as it will be a multichapter thing. 
> 
> So yeah. 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated (especially ones telling me what I did wrong so I can fix it) 
> 
> Other that that.. enjoy!

The cold and bitter wind whips around Peter's head as he walks down the sidewalk on his way home from work. It was only just turning from summer to fall but it was a cold and windy day. At least by Peter’s standards; which really meant anything below 70 degrees was considered freezing. His camera hung around his neck by the heavy strap and it was rubbing the back of his neck raw like always. He considered it a miracle that he still had skin there from years of carrying that camera like that, and the cold just made it that much worse. 

The sun was just beginning to set behind the skyscrapers of New York as he passes by an alley where a body-like form was laying sideways in front of the entrance. He pauses and looks down, terrified that he had stumbled upon a dead body. His heart rate accelerates and he breathes slightly on the heavy side as he inches closer to the man's bulky body. 

“U-uh um h-hello there..A-are you okay?” he calls quietly and stops a few feet from the still form, who thankfully must have just been napping since he looks up and blinks owlishly at Peter. 

“I’m fine kid. Thanks for waking me up. Really appreciate that.” the guy grumbles in a thick and rough voice, still heavily weighted with sleep. 

Peter may not have been very good at most social skills however he definitely recognized a healthy dose of sarcasm when he heard it; and that man was absolutely dripping in it.

“Oh I-I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t need to call the hospital or anything.” he apologized honestly. He made no comment about his sleeping in an alley, obviously he was homeless and Peter did not want to be rude and point that out to the poor man.

“Hospital?” the man seemed to pale and curl up on himself in fear at the mere mention of the word. It made Peter wonder why but he certainly wasn’t going to push the issue at all. Besides, he didn't even know the guy. 

“No i- I won’t call anyone now. I just.. I wasn’t sure if you were..alive?” Bless social anxiety. Just bless it. “I’m sorry I-” 

“Don’t worry about it kid.” The stranger seemed to relax a little but it was only marginal. “I’m fine.” 

Somehow I don’t think he’s fine at all. The logical part of Peter thought with concern. 

“Do you-uh-would you like a chocolate bar?” he slips his backpack off his shoulders and starts to dig through one of the front pockets. Peter usually always kept a couple different type of sweets in his bag as a reassurance that if he got too horribly stressed out he could eat one to help relax himself. He would insist till the day he dies that sugar is the only thing keeping him going. 

The homeless man finally turns his gaze up to Peter and watches as the obviously younger boy dig through the bag and come out with a handful of chocolate bars. 

“Take your pick- want a Snickers, a Milky Way, or a Twix?” Peter asks with a grin and holds the candy out to the man, seeming to be fearless of any consequences his actions could have; Peter didn’t know if this guy was a serial killer, a psycho, a rapist.. But he didn’t really care either. He felt sympathy for someone who obviously was having a rough time and he felt some kindness should be offered to him. 

The man, who was dressed in a faded and tattered red hoodie that served to cover most of his face from view, moves a little and looks at up at Peter with wide and questioning deep brown eyes. Peter was left a little breathless at how gorgeous he was, his jaw was sharp and defined, covered with a surprisingly light stubble for being apparently homeless. His muscles seemed to be fairly defined and there was nothing about him that was unappealing. Even the scars covering his face and likely the rest of his body didn’t distract from the sheer handsome presence the man gave off. The guy clears his throat a little and raises his thin but well sculpted eyebrows at Peter curiously. 

“Ah crap I-I’m sorry I- I wasn’t trying to be creepy. I just.. You’re really handsome. Oh my god I’m so awkward. I’m so sorry.” he could feel his face flaming up in heated embarrassment and he hides his face behind his bag as he tries to breathe and calm himself down. To his surprise though the man just laughed, the sound deep and pleasant to Peter’s ears. 

“It’s fine kid.” he moves a little so he was sitting up fully propped against the wall. “You’re not bad looking yourself. Despite the fact that your face is currently attempting to artfully copy the shade of a tomato.” he teases and smiles, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. “Now about that candy. See here boy you have given me a choice I cannot possibly make. How am I supposed to choose between one form of heaven or another? So you pick and surprise me.” The man seemed to have a surprisingly warm and friendly demeanor, much different from the annoyed and rough edge he had displayed when Peter first approached him. 

Peter removes his face from the bag and slowly kneels in front of the guy, grabbing the first candy bar his fingers touched and he holds it out to Wade with a gentle and friendly smile. “This okay?” 

Wade takes the candy and nods. “Twix is perfect. Chocolate and caramel and crunchy whatever is on the bottom of it.” he nods eagerly and opens the candy, biting into it with vigor and excitement. “I can’t believe you just carry around candy bars like this. And they’re not even the pathetic ‘fun size’ garbage. Real, full sized chocolaty delight. Not all heros wear capes, kid.” he praises Peter, crumbs of the bar falling from the corner of his lips. 

Peter smiles a little and he relaxed slowly against the wall opposite of Wade, seeming to be remarkably more at ease with the man, especially now that he seemingly was placated further with the candy.  
“My name is Peter, not kid, incase you were wondering.” He says in a soft and quiet voice, as if unsure if he should really give his name out, but he figured it was just his first name, not his address or social security number. 

Wade stared at him and clearly was surprised as well with the new information. “...Wade.” He slowly said his own name, as if unused to saying it himself anymore. Really he was just surprised that the kid was still there. He'd expected him to just walk away after checking on he was alive, and he'd really expected him to run after giving him the candy bar, but there the lad was, making himself comfy against the wall across from him and apparently settling in for a conversation. 

“It's nice to meet you Wade.” Peter smiles kindly and he stretches his long legs out, crossing one over the other and looking like the picture perfect image of being relaxed and at peace despite his surroundings of a dirty alleyway in Queens with a homeless man as his company. 

“You too ki- I mean.. Peter.” The name stung like a thousand bees in Wade's heart and throat. Memories were crashing down around him in a way that made his chest tighten and his eyes water. A name he's tried to not think about for five years, but failed horrifically at forgetting, was sitting right in front of him again. 

Peter noticed the shift in he man's demeanor, how he went from happy to sad just like that. “I'm sorry did I- uh- did I do something wrong or…”

“No. no you didn't. Sorry I just knew someone named Peter once and the uhh the memory just stung a little.” Wade explained as simply and calm as he could. It hurt worse then he would have thought to talk about Petey in the past tense like that. He longed to be able to meet this kind hearted kid and to tell him with a smile on his face that his beloved husband was also named Peter and he was waiting for him back home. But Wade didn't have a home anymore. Or a husband. Or really anything at all. 

“Oh.” Peter sighs softly. “I'm sorry.” Seems It was just a ‘Peter’ thing to apologize for everything- especially things that were not their fault in any way shape or form. 

Wade chuckles softly and shakes his head. “No worries about it. It just caught me off guard a little.” 

Peter opened his mouth to respond when a soft chirping noise coming from his pocket interrupted him. 

“Aw crap.” He digs his cracked beyond all repair iPhone 4 out of his pocket and quickly taps the accept button, mumbling hurried and sincere apologies to the person on the other end of the line. 

Something about this scene was so unsettlingly familiar to Wade. The ringtone was the same, as was the style of phone, which surprised Wade even more since he had no idea how that dinosaur was still honestly working seeing how outdated its software had to have been. 

Just like my Petey. He thought was a sorrowed pain in his heart. 

Peter ends the call and scrambles around to stand up. 

“Sorry. I'm so sorry to bolt like this. My dad just reminded me how late for family dinner I am.” He brushes his hand down the front of his nice looking coat to smooth it out and tugs at the collar anxiously, his body nearly visibly trembling from either nerves, the cold, or a rough combination of both. 

'Well there was at least one major difference.' Wade thinks with a soft sigh. 'My Peter didn't have any parents other than his aunt.'

“I don't know why you feel the need to apologize for that. You've been humoring me enough this whole time by staying here as long as you did and I appreciate that enough. Thanks for the conversation and the candy bar, Peter.” He tried to say the name without wincing. He really did. 

Peter smiles with the most beautiful crooked little turn of his lips and he zippers his backpack, but not before getting out a snickers bar and tossing it to the man still sitting on the ground. 

“It was nice to meet you Wade. Maybe I'll see you around sometime. Stay safe!” He turns on his heel and marches away with a little hop to his step that Wade definitively remembered Peter having. As much as the memory hurt, hearing his husbands favorite parting words and seeing that cute bounce in someone's step was enough to make Wade smile. 

“Maybe we will, kid. Maybe we will.” He mumbles and clutches the chocolate bar to his chest before laying down again and falling asleep thinking about everything that had just happened, ending with dreaming about a pair of bright brown eyes that were so full of life and joy that the feeling was spread onto Wade's own emotions for a little while and for the first time in over five years, Wade Wilson woke up with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to come and chat with me- I'm on tumblr at 
> 
> Ask-teen-Spidey 
> 
> And also Instagram 
> 
> Teen_Spidey 
> 
> I love talking to people and I'm really friendly so please- go ahead and message me on either one of those places!


	2. The Life of Wade Wilson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer- I'm beginning to get better at this whole writing thing. 
> 
> This is mostly just some further insight into Wade's daily life. 
> 
> Enjoy and don't be afraid to comment if you like the story (It may just encourage me to write more ;)

Wade shifts and rolls around in his makeshift bed a little, waking up with the feeling of a violent emotional hangover. He still was not one hundred percent sure that yesterday had really happened at all. Or maybe if it had then his already fragile sanity had finally completely slipped away and he was now left with envisioning apparitions of his deceased husband bringing him chocolate bars and talking to him. But the crinkling of a wrapper under his body threw that theory out the window. Someone was really here. 

 

~Maybe you just imagined that his name was Peter. And that he looked so similar to him. That was probably a way uglier and weirder guy than you envisioned him to be.~ one of the voices that always tended to haunt the back of Wade's mind chimed in with its ever annoying and disheartening words. 

 

Since Wade had lost it all he did gain something at least- a certified place in the loony bin if anyone ever felt like turning him over. His mind did love to play dirty tricks on him, like for the longest time after the incident he would swear he had seen Peter walking through the crowds, but when he would run after him he would be gone. Or he’d hear the others voice talking to him at night, or when he still had a bed the other side of it would appear to dip down like how it would when Peter would stumble in after a late night of studying for finals while working towards his doctorate degree. Of course these were all just tricks his lonely mind was playing on him to either lessen the pain or make it worse- he’d never actually determined which it was. 

 

He didn’t want to believe this was a trick though. Maybe it was too good to be true but did that really matter in the long run? It was a brief moment of pretending things were okay. He felt he deserved that after all this time.  
~Hmm. Yes. Right. The loon deserves a break. If you hadn’t been such a fucking screw up then we would still be waking up next to Peter every morning, wouldn’t we? But even if he did come back now he would certainly not give us another run. We look like shit, smell like it too, and you’re full blown crazy. Peter didn’t deserve you then and he certainly doesn’t deserve you now. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? Because he’s dead!~ 

 

Wade gave a small wince at the voice screaming at him. Realistically Wade knew that voice was just a manifestation of all his negative energy that had developed it’s own life force in his head but it still seemed to sting more coming from that voice rather than ‘thinking it himself’- it felt more like it was coming from someone else. More accusing. Wade was used to berating himself. Even over small things before this all happened he would frequently talk himself down into a hole of sadness- which always pissed Peter off and spurred many long discussions over why everything wrong with the world was not Wade’s fault and he should be happy with himself. 

 

~We miss Peter. Too bad he died in our arms.~

 

“Alright enough already.” he grumbles quietly as he pushes himself slowly to his feet, all his cold and sore muscles and joints cracking and resisting Wade movement. Soon it would start to snow more than minuet long spritzes and he would have to find somewhere warmer to reside then the crummy alley. The idea of leaving the place Peter had always called home was a heavy weight in Wade’s gut and he didn’t want to face it until he absolutely had to. 

 

He looks at the wrapper of the twix bar and the still uneaten snickers bar and he smiled a little. Even if he had perhaps screwed up mentally how he looked or sounded, the kid was undeniably as kind and gentle hearted as Peter had been. Wade would guess over a thousand people walked past him every day, and no one ever spared him a second glance. But that boy.. He’d made himself late to a warm family dinner just to sit in the cold and talk to Wade. If the man had anything left to offer he would love to find some way to repay him for his kindness someday. 

 

Wade also unfortunately knew that their encounter was just a stroke of luck, however, and he would likely never see the young brunette again. 

 

‘It wasn’t like I was attached or anything. It doesn’t matter. He was a random stranger in New York.’ Wade tried to convince himself of that before he got too happy on the idea that maybe the boy would actually follow up on his ‘see you around’. 

 

Wade grabs his candy treat and stuffs it in the threadbare pocket of his hoodie, planning to protect the sweet with his life until he deemed it appropriate to eat it. If that was the last gesture of kindness Wade Wilson ever received, he planned on savoring it. He rolls his shitty sleeping bag up and tucks it away in it’s usual hiding place behind a garbage can. No one ever really walked through this alley since it was a dead end, plus it was close to the place he used to call home, so it was the perfect docking place for him. Wade pulls his suitcase out and pulls out a small black coin purse, which was again running alarmingly low. He needed to do some laundry, as well as take a shower at the laundromat. He hoped he had enough to get him through that much. Working at a little taco stand really did not pay enough to support his literally minimalistic as possible lifestyle, but it was all he could manage to get. 

 

~Is it cause our skin kinda looks like hamburger meat?~ the negative voice chimes in with a gloating tone, like he was very much enjoying Wade's agony and self conscious problems. 

 

‘Shut up.’ It was all he could think in response since it was technically correct. Wade's whole body wasn't scared, just certain parts that had not been protected when things went wrong. His right eyebrow was spliced in half and he had some pretty messy scarring across his forehead and cheek, his shoulders looked bad but his back and right side really was the worst part of it all since that was the side facing the explosion when it happened. 

 

He ducks deeper into the shadows of the alley and pulls his hoodie off, replacing it with his white shirt with a little circular taco patch sewed onto the breast pocket. He also changes out of his sweatpants and into a nice pair of faded blue jeans that showed some wear around his knees and crotch. If one were to just glance at Wade when he was like this without really paying much attention they wouldn’t really be able to tell that he was homeless.

 

He runs a tired and heavy hand across his jaw, feeling his uneven stubble beginning to grow back. ‘Yup. Definitely time to find somewhere to bathe and take care of myself.’ Wade himself really didn’t mind the idea of facial hair, although at this point it really would serve to make him look more homeless and also would probably just be disgusting, but the real reason Wade really kept up on keeping himself clean shaven was thanks to Peter’s dislike of it. The younger man would always complain and refuse to give Wade kisses until he’d shaved, declaring that stubble rubbed against Peter’s own baby face and hurt every time he tried to kiss him.  
And Wade would have done anything to get kisses from Peter so the facial hair always had to go. 

 

Wade folds his sweatshirt and sleeping pants up and tucks them into a plastic bag along with his little remaining money, planning to go to the laundromat after his shift. He also makes sure to grab his makeshift tip jar, hoping maybe he would get a little bit of extra cash so he could purchase himself a nice taco for dinner tonight. Of course there was the standard tip jar that was always there but Wade had devised a plan of having a little “charity” jar next to it. Sometimes if people didn’t feel like being generous to the man that made their food, they may feel nice enough to donate to the “animal shelter”. Sure he felt bad lying about trying to help the animals but he was desperate. And he did fully plan to give a big chunk of cash to the shelter if he ever won the lottery or something amazingly unlikely like that. But for now it worked well in his favor. Sometimes people were even great enough to put some cash in both jars! 

 

There were a few people who were regulars to the stand that actually did that, somehow he figured they knew what was up but they seemed happy enough to help him out. It was surprising to Wade how many people liked to make return visits to his stand but he supposed he did make pretty good tacos. 

 

He gives a quick glance to the worn out watch on his wrist and confirms it was time to go to work. Wade never minded working. Before everything had gone to shit he enjoyed going to work and bringing home cash for him and Peter to use although Peter was by far the heavier supporter of their little family with the massive checks he was getting just as being an intern for Stark Tech while completing his college career. Peter was always the one with a plan, Wade just kinda of went with it. He bounced around from job to job, always managing to screw up every one of them in some way and get the boot. Only towards the end of things going well did Wade realize that he actually had a fairly strong talent for cooking and decided to pursue jobs in that field. 

 

Wade had been working, and let's be honest he was practically running, the taco stand for over two years now. It was certainly not the best job. His one single higher up was an absolute douchebag that paid him far under minimal wage for all the work he does, but he did not dare bring the issue up for fear he would be let go, and since this was his only source of income at all he could not afford to lose this job thanks to opening his mouth. 

 

He makes sure all evidence of his little camp was secured away before starting off down the street with a small whistle on his lips. No matter how he felt inside, he always masked everything with a chipper smile in public. The burn scars covering his skin was bad enough. But at least his handsome smile was enough to distract from it a little. 

 

He digs the key out of his pocket and opens up the trailer, opening the windows and turning all the necessary electronics on to begin his day of business. The money jars were placed on the counter facing outwards and his laundry bag was tucked away in a corner to be worried about at a later time. 

 

He slips a baseball cap over his head to hide how thin and honestly sad looking his hair was and he switches the little radio on, humming and tapping his fingers along to the pop song playing from the speakers. Work was good. It was distracting. It gave him something to think about and people to talk to however briefly and that was keeping him from going fully off the deep end. 

 

As the first customers of the day strolled up to him, Wade widened his smile and turned on his charming and personable attitude to face the day.

 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`

 

Despite how much he enjoyed it, and how much he knew he needed the smile to gain tips, by the end of the day his face always hurt from such exaggerated fake happiness. 

 

‘Do people really assume that a guy working in a taco stand would be that happy? If I dropped the act for like a second would it really matter?’ he wasn’t willing to test it out, however much he wanted to. Especially not when he walked away from his fantastic friday afternoon shift with $52 dollars and change in his pocket from his tip jar and donation jar. That was the most he’d scored in a while and he was super excited. He could afford to tuck some of that away in his secret stash that he was saving in a desperate attempt to buy himself a cheap and crappy apartment. He figured if his math was right he should be fairly close to being able to get something. He wasn’t looking for luxury, or cleanliness. He just wanted a roof over his head again. 

 

Wade was never the type of man to shy away from a challenge or a rough situation. Being on the streets really didn’t scare him as much as it would some, he knew his appearance was fairly off putting so he didn’t really worry about people trying to mess with him, and he still had most of his army strength packed on his arms so in the event something did turn ugly he was pretty sure he could fight his way out. Plus he was at the advantage of the military training sticking with him and making him immune to the discomfort he felt from the weather and the fairly constant hunger he faced. 

 

He wasn’t really sure if he would be able to survive off this lifestyle if he had not been through all that, despite how horrendous of an outcome it had all produced in the end. 

 

Despite how he was well equipt to handle this, he didn’t like it. He missed having a solid place to come back to every night and call it his home. His and Peter’s apartment had not been anything great, there wasn’t much room for anything other than their necessity decorations and furniture, but neither of them had minded. It was theirs and that was all that mattered. Honestly that apartment was one of the main reasons why Wade hated himself so much. He would never forgive himself for losing it. 

 

After Peter died Wade was too distraught to actually bother doing any work for the longest time, he could not get himself living in the real world long enough for it. He instead lived in a land of painful flashbacks and PTSD that hindered his ability to really function at all. He was able to pay rent for a little while off the money Peter had left but after that ran out he knew he was screwed. He’d hung on as long as he could to the building, selling off the furniture to try and make rent, while desperately scrambling around to find a job with absolutely no success. 

 

Only after he’d been completely kicked out and left only with a single suitcase of belongings that he had not sold did Wade realize how much trouble he was really in. After that he’d really tried harder to bring himself back to reality, despite his well hidden and nearly forgotten mental disorders making violent reappearances in the aftermath, but he was still stuck with the same shitty luck he’s had before with employment. Apparently a bunch of strikes of being fired and a dishonorable discharge from the military did not form a very impressive resume. 

 

His old friend from Canada had offered him a job at his bar but he couldn’t accept it for a variety of reasons, from not wanting to leave New York to just plain not being able to due to lack of money and transportation. And Weasels kind offer definitely stopped at the idea of buying a plane ticket. 

 

Eventually after years of ripping out what remaining hair he had left he found the taco stand with a ‘now hiring’ sign on it and he has been working there ever since. 

 

~Thank goodness we like cooking or we would really hate our lives right? Oh wait. We already do! Hahaha!!!~ 

 

Wade sighs as he closes down shop and grabs his clothes bag, making sure everything was locked down securely before heading off to wash his clothes and finally get a shower. He was even planning to splurge a little and take a double long shower since he had such a good day! 

 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-``-`-`

 

Wade felt good, almost human again after taking a shower and putting clean clothes on. He had shaved his face, bit the bullet and paid for the tiny bottles of shampoo and body wash they had there and he had to admit that he felt better. Normally he just stood under the hot water and rubbed an empty wash cloth over his body to clean it but he loved how he smelled like lavender now. The weather outside was turning dreadfully cold but the hot water had given him a few moments of peace and comfort. Of course that good feeling dissolved as soon as he stepped outside and the bitter wind chilled him immediately. 

 

He trudges back to his alley with slightly lighter steps then he usually walked with. He was almost able to pretend he was a normal man for the journey ‘home’. The voices were even being more or less inactive for the time being. Life was.. Not good.. But...it was alright for the moment. 

 

By the time he had gotten to the alley it was already pretty much pitch dark out so he just dug his sleeping bag out and curled up under the murky sky. He thought about how bright the stars were in Canada and he wondered if maybe he hadn't made a mistake by not making more of an effort to go back there after all was said and done. His life may have been very much different if he’d listened to Weasel. 

 

Wade’s eyes just happened to stare at the wall ahead of him and something yellow caught his eye. He sits up and untangles himself from the burrito he had made himself into and stands in front of the wall, realizing it was a sticky note left there- with his name on it! He pulls the little square paper off the brick and squints to read the sloppy and loopy handwriting in the dark. 

 

Hey Wade!  
So I came back through here today and I was kinda sad you weren’t here. Do you move around or always stay here? If you get this can you let me know? There’s a pen on the ground under this note. Stay safe buddy!  
Love, Peter S-R. 

 

Wade stared at the note like it was some immensely foreign object. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. The kid had come back.. And left a note for him? He was sad he wasn't there? What even was going on right now? 

 

‘Hm. Guess his name really is Peter. Definitely not imagining that.’ That came as quite a surprise to Wade since he had been convinced that he was really making most of it up.

 

He bends over and picks up the promised pen, twirling it between his fingers mindlessly for a few moments. He could tell just by the feeling of the pen in his hand that it was one of those fancy fine point gel pens that Peter had always had a clear preference for. The kind of pen that cost five dollars per freakin pen. He could only assume this guy was fairly well off financially if he was willing to just leave a pen like this laying in the alley. He carefully thought about his response and smiles as he draws an arrow under Peter’s signature to indicate that there was writing on the back. 

 

Heya Pete,  
Yeah I pretty much tend to stay here. Least until I reach my financial goal and can move into a shitty apartment. You must have come by while I was at the laundromat. I work pretty much every day but I’m usually back around 6. Sweet of ya to care. Sorry I missed you. Btw- I’m stealing your pen. You should no better than to leave nice objects laying around where a homeless man can grab them! Unless you really want it back.. Then you’re going to have to fight me for it!  
Maybe I’ll see you soon.  
All love~ Wade Wilson

 

Wade’s handwriting was much smaller and neater than Peter’s doctor scrawl so he was able to fit that whole paragraph neatly on the post it note while Peter had clearly struggled to get less words on the paper in a manner that was legible. 

 

He read and re-read his response, wishing he’d had more room to express how touched and grateful he was that the boy had thought of him. But since he did not he just stuck the note back on the wall and took the pen over to his suitcase, hiding it away like it was a precious gem. 

 

After tucking himself back into his sleeping bag, Wade fell asleep staring at the sticky note, his mind thinking of this new Peter that seemed to be making an honest effort to worm his way into Wade’s miserable life. Even if just in a small way. 

 

 

The next day seemed to be uneventful to Wade. He went to work like usual but only made a little over thirty dollars in tips. Not as good as the other day but still fairly decent. He’s had worse. Once the weather began getting colder and more snowy business was going to drop and he’d be launched into the yearly winter struggle. But for now he was enjoying the decent tips. 

 

Once he got back to the alley, his mood significantly lifted though. Underneath the sticky note from the other day was a new one, this one pink instead of yellow. He rushed over to it and read it excitedly, feeling his heartbeat in a way it hasn’t in awhile. 

 

Wade-  
OK! Good to know! I was gonna stick around and wait for you since I usually end up passing through here around 5:30 but I had some family crap to deal with. I’ll try to be here in person tomorrow. Until then enjoy another candy bar on me! Same location as my beloved theived pen.  
Later Gator!  
Peter 

 

And god love him for trying to shrink his writing down to fit more words on the note then he really should have. Wade just found himself dissolving into laughter, an unfamiliar feeling coursing through his veins. It wasn’t quite love but a high form of generous affection at least. He could not believe this guy. 

 

Sure enough there was a twix bar laying in the same spot the pen had laid the other night and Wade wondered if this was going to become a habit. 

 

Not that he minded at all. 

 

He couldn’t wait for the next day, hoping maybe he would have a chance to see the boy again.

 

‘Maybe something is finally going to go good for me.’ he thinks with a tiny smile as a swears that he sees a star poking through the smaug covered night sky.


	3. Growing closer with the Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone that has read/commented/liked this story so far!!! You guys are great <3

Wade was uncharacteristically jumpy all the next day, one of the regular customers to the taco stand had even commented on his jitteriness, to which he just responded that he might be meeting up with someone later. 

The woman just gave him a big smile and a nice five dollar tip, which earned her an extra scoop of sour cream on her taco, free of charge cause Wade was nice like that. They had long since worked out that little unspoken deal and they were both happy with it. 

The day was not as cold as the few days previous, which had improved Wade's mood even more, the sun seeming to shine all the brighter for the usually miserable man. There was a certain feeling to him that had not existed since Peter, and only seemed to be arising again because of..Peter. 

~Isn’t it hard to think about the two of them with the same name? How about you just shorten it to Dead one and Live one?~ 

Not even the voices negative input was enough to truly dampen Wade’s mood, however annoying it may have been. As much as it scared him to really consider it, since the new Peter had first met him in the alley, and especially since the first note had been left on the wall, Wade had been thinking less and less about the boy he’d lost. It wasn’t like Peter was going to replace the love of his life, there was no chance anyone could ever properly fill the hole left by his death, but maybe letting someone get close wouldn’t be such a terrible thing. 

~That’s what you think now. Wait until new guy gets mugged in an alley or run over by a bus. That’ll teach you to have feelings.~ 

“Do you have to always be so negative about everything? Can’t you just consider the possibility of something working out for once?” there was no one around as Wade was closing down the taco stand for the night so he finally indulged in returning conversation to the voice. 

~ Sure I did. Back when our Peter was still alive.~ the voice’s answer was very point blank and it did make sense. Wade really had lost all his hope in the world when Peter had died so it made sense that the voice in the back of his head went from somewhat negative to full blown pessimist about everything. 

Wade takes a small but deep breath and pauses the action of folding his apron up. “Maybe I want to try and let it go. Peter… he wouldn’t want this for me, would he? Maybe this is the universe giving me a second chance. I mean what really are the odds of a boy named Peter who looks exactly like my deceased husband of the same name taking an interest in me?” 

~You’re putting too much thought into the idea of him liking you like that. For all you know that boy is already happily married to someone else and he’s just taking pity on your disgusting and miserable ass because you looked like a kicked mangy dog.~ 

Wade breathes out sharply through his teeth. “I’m not pretending that he likes me like that. I’m not even thinking there’s a chance. I just think maybe we could be friends. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to say we have a friend again? It’s been long enough of being a hermit.” he tries to reason with Mr. Negative. His voice had taken on a nearly desperate tone. 

~You think you’ve repented enough for killing Peter?~ that smug little bastard was not going to give up.

“I didn't kill him.” Wade’s voice carried a definitive bite to it as he was getting more angry with the voice. 

~You may as well have for as much good as you did to save him.~ 

Wade balls his fist up and slams it into the side of the building behind him, feeling his knuckles crack and the skin rip and bleed under the force he’d applied. He didn’t even wince at the pain. “I tried. You know I tried. If there was anything I could have done I..”

~ Don’t lie to yourself. You know you could have done so much more. If you hadn’t panicked and become a worthless lump of lard that just cried over him he may still be alive.~ 

This was where Wade made a full dissociation between the voice and himself. One part of him truly believed that he was to blame for the death of Peter Parker, but there was another part, small and struggling to exist, that knew it was not his fault. He had not seen it coming. He could not have prepared for it. And he certainly could not have saved him no matter what he had done differently. It was really only recently that this thought process had begun to take place, Wade had finally reached the stage of grief where acceptance was beginning to occur, through depression and anger were still holding on ferociously and remained at the forefront of his mind. 

The broken man really had no answer that he could say to dignify what the voice had said. His words would have been too flimsy to mean anything to either of them. 

~That’s what I thought.~ the voice states with a bragging tone. He knew he would continue to win so long as Wade held even a shadow of doubt that he was at fault for the accident. 

Wade just nods his head slowly and tucks his apron into it’s hiding spot before locking the doors and walking back towards the alley. His stomach gave a little growl of displeasure but he studiously ignored it. He didn’t feel he’d made enough tips for the day to purchase himself a meal and he wouldn’t be receiving an actual paycheck for another two days so he was going to let himself go hungry. He really wanted to get an apartment before winter hit so if that meant going a few days of skipping meals then so be it. 

He remembered as he was walking home that he also still had the candy bars from Peter that he could eat, both the Snickers and the Twix. The thought made him feel better, more like he was going to an actual home rather than a dirty alleyway. 

As he rounds a corner to make his way back to the alley, he saw a lanky and semi short form huddled up against the wall. It was wrapped in a thick coat with a hat covering its head as well as its head being tucked down so Wade was unable to recognize any features if he indeed did know the person. The person appeared to be holding a package of some sort in his mitten covered hands. Wade’s gait slowed down a little and he pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans, fingering the edge of the pocket knife he always kept on his person just in case. He was fearless, not stupid. 

Just as he was about to call out to the person, his head raised and all too familiar brown eyes lit up at the sight of Wade approaching. 

“Wade! Hi!” Peter’s nearly breathless voice called. He removes one hand from the package he was holding and he waves to the scarred man. 

Immediately all the tension had left Wade’s body and he offers a relaxed and friendly smile to the kind boy. “Hello Peter. I’m surprised you actually came around.” 

‘Well that wasn’t what I meant to say at all. Way to come off as abrasive and rude.’ 

Luckily if Peter had taken any offense to that, he didn’t show it. His grin never faltered as he turned into the alley and sat down with back against the wall opposite to where Wade was sitting so they were facing each other. Peter crossed his legs so he was sitting Indian style and he set the..casserole dish..? On the ground in between them. 

“I told you I planned on it. I’m just going through a bit of a hard time with my father’s right now.” he sighs and lays his head back against the wall, closing his eyes and letting his fingers mindlessly play with the shoelace of his nice looking converse shoes. 

“Father’s?” Wade raises his eyebrows a little and looks at Peter curiously. He didn’t want to pry into Peter’s personal life at all and make him uncomfortable but he was a little thrown off by that statement. 

“Yeah. I’m adopted.” Peter shrugs easily, obviously not minding the subject much. “They’re great parents, but.. I think they’re struggling with the idea of me being an adult and wanting to have my own life now. I’m still their little boy I guess. My Pops thinks I’m a completely different person now then I was as a child and he won't stop pestering me about it.” Peter really didn’t seem to have much of a problem opening up and sharing his life details to Wade. The older man wondered a little if he was like that to everyone or if he just felt safe saying it to Wade alone since there was no one Wade was going to run off and gossip about him with. 

He had pegged the kid as being the shy and reserved type judging by how nervous and twitchy he had been at their first meeting. And his Peter had been the same way. He always had such a hard time talking to strangers but with Wade he would always openly spill his guts with no hesitation. 

~You really should stop drawing comparisons between the two. They’re not the same person; no matter how much you try to make them seem like it.~ 

“I can’t really sympathize there. My parents split the scene way early on in my life. I was raised by wolves in the Canadian wilderness.” Wade says with a tiny joking smile, negative voice being completely ignored. 

Peter snorts and laughs, covering his mouth with his hand as if to hide the fact that he’d just done that. “Are you Canadian? That’s kinda cool. I’ve never been outside of New York. What’s it like there?” 

“Cold. Woodsy. Everyone’s so pleasant I’m pretty sure most of them fart rainbows.” he shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest with a crooked grin. He found that little snort so painfully adorable but he didn’t want to embarrass Peter more by pointing that out. 

Wade had always promised his Peter that he was going to take him on a trip to Canada as a celebration after he had finished Grad school and he felt such a heavy dose of deja vu having to explain it to Peter again, using the same words he had used with his lover to describe it. 

“Sounds lovely.” Peter smiles and lets his eyes travel up to meets Wade’s. Just as he opened his mouth to say something else, Wade’s stomach announces it’s earlier abuse in a loud and unignorable manner. Peter’s eyes widen and his hands flail around and he removes the cover from the dish on the ground. “I almost forgot! I brought you some leftover Baked Ziti. I don’t really know what your food situation is.. We were just going to throw it away anyway so I thought I’d offer it to you.” he explains and produces a plastic fork that had been wrapped in a ziplock bag to keep it sanitary out of his pocket. “Sounds like it’s a good thing that I did.” he smiles and offers the form to Wade.

The shocked man slowly reached out and accepts the fork, looking down at the pasta in front of him with awe. “I- Thank you. I normally don’t go that long without eating, I mean I work at a Taco stand for god's sake but I’m kind of trying to save my money up right now so I didn’t want to buy myself a meal tonight. Thank you so much. You really don’t have to keep giving me stuff and being nice to me.” 

“I know I don’t have to.” Peter explains with a casual shrug. “I just want to. You look like you could use a friend and I really could as well. People either always want to be friends with me because of who my Dad is, or they won’t come within a certain amount of space near me because I have two. My best friend just recently moved to England after being accepted to her dream College there and my God I’m lonely and why am I even telling you all this?” Peter seemed to have a horrible case of motormouth word vomit. He rubs his well manicured hand over his face and shakes his head. “I’m sorry I know you probably really do not care about my stupid life story or my problems and I’m really sorry if I am annoying you. You can always just tell me to go away if I bother you.” 

Wade laughs gently and shakes his head. “No please, continue talking. I don’t mind at all. It’s nice to have someone around. And you’re not wrong. I’m just as lonely and in need of a friend as you appear to be. I’m just curious.. Out of all the homeless dudes on the street, why me?” 

“Well I really was scared you were dead when I first saw you, which was my incentive to talk to you at first but after that...I really don’t know. You just.. There was something there. I felt like I had been talking to you my whole life and I didn’t want to stop. I was nervous at first, I mean I knew nothing about you then-and I still really don’t know that much other than that you're from Canada and you don’t have parents- but I just felt so comfortable talking to you.. I must sound so crazy. I’m sorry.” 

Wade could see the soft pink blush coloring Peter’s cheeks and he bit his lower lip a little. “Hey. You’re not crazy. Cause honestly I felt the same way.” 

Wade wasn’t sure what had compelled him to say that, maybe it was just the urge to comfort Peter away from being embarrassed, but there was so much truth to the words that it felt like a much more profound confession than that.

Those bright brown eyes dart up to Wade’s and Peter gives a cute and sweet little smile that was a perfect mix of awkward and adorable. “Really? Good. Glad it wasn’t just me. I really did not want to seem that weird.” 

“I’m the guy who lives in an alley. You really think you’re going to out weird me?” Wade asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

“You’d be surprised. Weird is my middle name.” Peter sassed back at him with a pleased grin. 

“Really? I thought it was Benjamin.” Wade was smiling until he realized just what he had said paired with the look Peter was giving him. ‘Oh. Fuck. I can’t believe I just said that.’ he wanted to hide his face from the humiliation he felt. 

~ Hahahah you messed up big time on that one hot shot!~ 

“Umm.. y-yeah y-you.. You’re not wrong...but… how did you know that?” Peter’s voice was an interesting mix between surprised and nervous. 

~ What.~ 

‘What?! He- he has the same middle- okay this is getting damn freaky!’  
“I just uhh.. Y’know how I said when we first met that I had known someone named Peter before? That was his middle name. I guess I just forgot for a moment that I wasn’t actually talking to him.” he explains slowly. 

“Oh. Wow. What a coincidence, huh?” he seemed to relax a little at that explanation and he smiles again. Peter seemed to take most things Wade said in good stride. 

“Yeah. Definitely. Your last name isn’t Parker, is it? Cause if it is I’m going to take a casual stroll down the middle of the street cause this is officially all a dream.” 

“No. Not even close.” Peter laughs and rubs a mitten covered hand through his shaggy brown hair. “Peter Benjamin Stark-Rogers at your service.” 

‘Stark.. That name is vaguely familiar.. Wait wasn’t my Petey an intern for that guy? Tony Stark?’ Wade was fairly certain that was how he knew the name. 

“Tony Stark?” he asks to see if he was on the right track. “That’s your father?” 

“Adopted father but yes. Please don’t start either hating or clinging to me because of him. I’m nothing like him I swear. The only thing we share is our love of science and technology.” Peter seemed to panic a little at the idea of it. 

“Why would I treat you any different because of who your father is?” 

“Most people do. They either want to get really close with me so they can meet the infamous legend or they shy away from me because they think that I’m going to be like him. I love my Dad but sometimes I wish he was not.. The Tony Stark.” Peter sighs and pulls his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them. 

“I’m sorry Peter. People can be so freakin dumb sometimes. I won’t do that to you. I promise.” he offers a comforting smile to him and tries to reaffirm his words with his gaze. 

Peter’s face is set alight in a smile and he nods, biting his lip cutely. “I believe you Wade. Thank you. I’m really glad I stopped to make sure you were okay.” 

“I’m glad you did too kiddo.” He smirks and leans back against his own wall. He knew it had always irked the hell out of Peter when he called him ‘kid’ and apparently it had the same effect on this boy if the little sneer that came upon his lips was anything to go by.

“I’m not a kid. I swear to god. I am above the legal drinking age for crying out loud!” he whines. 

“Bet they give you one hell of a time at the bar.” Wade sniggers.

“Ughhh you have no idea. I only tried that once. They took one look at my I.D. called bullshit and tried to kick me out. They spent at least ten minutes proving my identity and confirming my age before they would even give me a freakin glass of water.” he gripes miserably, which made Wade laugh. 

Everytime he and Peter had ever gone to the bar together Wade had always just ordered both their drinks for them since no one ever questioned his age. His Peter had looked a little older than this boy, but he easily could imagine this was how Petey had looked back in high school. “Just how old are you, exactly?” he questions curiously. 

“I’m 22. Don’t you dare laugh at me I swear I am telling the truth!” He says petulantly as he points a very non threatening glare at Wade.

The dirty blond haired man snorts a laugh of his own and rolls his eyes a little, earning a mean remark about maybe finding a brain back there from Peter. “Well at least you’re not the jailbait you look like. I’m 33 by the way.” he offers as some form of peace offering. 

“Surprised there was no comment about me being a twink.” Peter says with a little smirk. 

“Well I mean it goes without saying. It’s pretty obvious isn’t it?” he returns the playful jibe and shoots him a quick wink.

Now it was Peter’s turn to roll his eyes at Wade’s silliness. “Of course. What you don’t know is that I am actually a stripper that gets paid to get older men off by looking like jailbait.” 

Wade was aware they were wandering into the dangerous flirting territory but he did nothing to stop it. “Oh so you are into older men then? Daddy kink much?” 

Peter nearly gagged. “Hm yeah no that’s gross. I can’t think of calling someone ‘daddy’ in bed without the face of my disapproving fathers popping into my head. Total mood killer.” 

“But you did not deny the older men thing?” he pushes and raises his eyebrows. 

“Well no. I wouldn’t deny it as a solid possibility.” Peter says with a grin and a blush. “Why? Are you interest, Mr. Wilson?” 

“What? Why, never Mr. Stark-Rogers! That would just be silly. We would never work out. It is a requirement that any boyfriend I have must always refer to me as either ‘Master’ or ‘Daddy’ preferably the later.” he was joking one hundred percent of course, and he felt like maybe he should not be denying it in case it drove Peter’s flirting off but thankfully the boy seemed to be very quick on his feet and aware that he was only kidding. 

“Well then I suppose you’re just shit outta luck, aren’t you Mr. Wilson?” he leans forward a little and smirks. “Or maybe you’d just have to train me.” 

~!!!!! Holy shit!!!! Cue nosebleed! This kid is a serious aggressive flirt and he is working the right buttons!~ 

Wade somehow manages to play it cool and he just smirks in response. “I’m up for the challenge. My safe word is ‘Do it again’.” 

Peter dissolves into laughter, wrapping his arms around his narrow waist as he laughs. “Alright alright enough. You win.” he looks up at Wade and smiles. His phone chirps in his pocket and he looks at the time with wide eyes. “Holy crap! It’s past seven! We’ve spent over an hour talking!” he gasps in surprise. “My dad’s are gonna flip.” he jumps gracefully to his feet and brushes the dirt on his rear end off. “Enjoy your dinner Wade. I’ll be around tomorrow to collect my pan.” he smiles and looks down at the stranger he now considered his friend. 

As he started to walk away he pauses and looks back over his shoulder and smiles. “By the way you make sure you take good care of that pen. He was special to me.” he smirks and leaves with that remark hanging in the air and the soft rustle of his trench coat blowing around his legs. 

~Did that really just happen? Like any of it at all?~ the voice seemed to be stuck in a solid state of disbelief. 

“I have no idea buddy.” Wade responds with the same shocked and unsure tone. “But if it did- I’m in way deeper then I was aiming for.” Wade pulled his sleeping bag out, curled up and thought about the unlikely chance that maybe- just maybe, fate really was giving him a second shot at redemption.


	4. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is one of the shorter ones, and yes it is important but it's mostly just a filler until the next chapter where all the action happens.   
> Enjoy anyway and thank you all so much again for reading! You guys are fantastic!!

The next few weeks were full of Peter. Every day when Wade returned from work the young boy would be there, usually with some sort of gift for the homeless man. 

Wade had built up quite a little collection of things, from a new toothbrush and stick of deodorant, both which were politely requested when asked if there was anything he desperately needed, to Peter’s old high school backpack that was donated so he could carry and hide more things than in his bulky and old suitcase. This was where he kept all the things Peter had given him, keeping them separate from all his trash from the past. He didn't feel those two things should be mixed, despite how every conversation with Peter only seemed to further convince Wade that he somehow was the Peter from his past come back to life. 

Every night they would spend an extended amount of time just sitting and talking, never really hitting on any serious or heavy subjects but always learning new little facts about one another. 

Wade learned that Peter was basically a hipster with a strong affinity for flavored coffees and teas- he also had a part time job at a little coffee shop where one cup of black coffee would cost Wade's entire paycheck- as well as being very into Alternative and Indie music. He also now knew that Peter was a gymnast in high school, also a straight A student that was usually the butt of a lot of bullies jokes due to being book smart but socially inept at best. His Uncle Clint always tried to teach Peter to be more bold and open socially but it was never worth much since every time he’d tried to make friends, something horrible has gone wrong.. 

He was now studying advanced Physics and Technology Science in College but he really had no idea what he actually wanted to do with his life after graduation. That was one major difference between Wade's Peter and this boy- Peter Parker always had a plan and was ready for everything. Peter Stark-Rogers had no plan for anything and was willing to just lay back and let things happen as they may. Parker always had his eyes on the future while Stark-Roger’s preferred to try and live in the present as much as possible and leave future problems for the future. 

Wade learned that Peter was single, a complete virgin, and absolutely clueless to anything he may want in a future relationship. He did not even know his own sexual preferences though he believed he may have been bisexual since he at one point had a crush on his life long best friend Gwen despite nothing ever coming of it, but he leaned more towards envisioning himself ending up with a man if anything for reasons he could not describe. 

“So basically you’re gay with a side helping of Hetero?” Wade cocks and eyebrow and smirks, chewing loudly on the homemade rice crispy treat that Peter had brought him from the coffee shop, which was something he had started to do daily now. Wade was even starting to actually put some weight back on his ribs despite not buying himself any food in over a week. 

“No I- I don't know. Maybe? It could just be that I've lived with nothing but two guys my whole life   
so it's hard to picture myself ever really living with a girl now but I think it's something else too. Something just.. Feels more right about thinking about being with a man.” Peter’s face had been bright red the entire conversation, the blush never once subsiding. 

Wade snorts and smiles. “No one is judging you for it, Peter. You are aware that my last relationship was one hundred percent with a male right?” Wade could feel the light chain around his neck that held his and Peters wedding rings seem like it was burning as he thought about his Peter for a moment. 

Peter gave a small nod and lays his head back against the wall. “I probably seem really pathetic don't I? 22 years old and I've never even kissed anyone.” his voice was not the playful and spunky tone it usually upheld.

Wade was brought up short by the sudden self depredation from the usually upbeat and happy boy. He's never really heard anything that negative out of his mouth for the weeks they've known each other. “No it doesn't. Really. You're okay.. Look if it makes you feel any better I didn't meet my last.. lover.. Until I was 23.” 

Wade didn't know why he couldn't just say husband, it wasn’t like he was trying to hide anything from Peter, or that it would matter any to the boy if he had been married before. It just felt weird to refer to Peter as his ‘late husband’ or anything like that so he just stuck with more casual terms. 

“But I'm sure you've dating people before that? At least casual kissed someone?” Peter pressed. If he caught the little hitch in Wade's words he didn't comment on it, he was really locked on the warpath with this. 

Wade shrugs. “A little, sure. But I would have been much happier with myself if I never wasted all that on those people that ended up meaning nothing to me. I would have been fine if he’d been my first everything like he was my first love.” 

Peter sighs and looks up at the sky over the rim of his thick black nerd glasses,which had earned him plenty of loving teasing from the other about how cute and classic comic book nerdy he looked in them.. “What happened to him? You talk about this mysterious ex lover alot but never about what happened to him. Why’d you guys end it if you loved him so much?” His eyes travel back to Wade questioningly. 

Somehow Wade knew that was going to come up eventually but he was still unsure how to talk about it. “He.. Uh.. He died.” Wade breathes out softly. 

~And there it is. Our ugly little secret.~ 

Peter’s face pales and his jaw drops a little. “Oh my god. Wade I- I'm so sorry I-i had no idea- that's so horrible.” He whispers with a faint stutter that tended to appear in Peter’s voice whenever he was nervous or unsure what he actually wanted to say. 

“Yeah. Yeah it is. We never really ended it. In my mind I'm still with him. And I always will be. He's the only one for me.” He pulls the chain out from under his shirt and fiddled with the rings, slipping his on his finger for a brief second and staring at it with longing eyes. 

Peter looks at the rings and his eyes widen even further. “You guys were..” 

“Married. Yeah. Two years before he died. We met on total accident. Hated each other violently at first; I’m pretty sure he wanted me to take a long walk off a short pier but I knew what I wanted and I didn’t give up until he agreed to go out on a date with me. After that we became inseparable. We dated for four years before I proposed to him and we finally tied the knot.” Wade kept his voice purposefully neutral and calm despite how he was feeling an overwhelming rush of emotions that he's pushed down for so long. 

Peter suddenly jerked into action, crawling across the alley and closing the distance between them and throwing himself into Wade’s lap while wrapping his arms tightly around the bigger man. 

~Good thing we showered last night.~ the voice said as an attempt to distract from the situation but it was useless. The voice was left in a state of dead shock and Wade was about to have an aneurism. Despite how close he and Peter had gotten recently, they had yet to actually physically touch each other. Especially not in an intimate and loving gesture like a hug. 

He slowly brings his arms up and puts them around Peter in return; as if unsure if he should do that. The younger boys body fit perfectly against Wade, almost better than his Peter’s had since he was a couple of inches shorter and slighter of frame. 

Wade felt Peter’s hands fist tightly into his shirt and his hot breath coming out in uneven and scarred pants against his neck. “Petey? What wrong?” he asks gently as he rubs his large and calloused hand up and down the boys back in a comforting gesture. “Isn’t it me that should be crying?” he tries to lighten the mood with a small joke, which kind of worked if Peter’s tear choked little half laugh was anything to go off of. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m sorry I just.. I had no idea you.. Lost your husband. That’s so much worse than any life story I had made up for you in my head and I’m so sorry this happened to you.” he explains shakily. 

Wade slowly brushes his fingers through Peter’s thick hair and plays with the long strands in a way his hands never forgot. The repetitive motion seemed to calm the emotional boy down. “It’s alright. Really it’s.. It’s okay. It happened five years ago. I’m… starting to get my life on track again.” he says with a tight lipped smile. Wade was a little surprised how he was actually able to claim that things were okay. Maybe, in some way, that meant that they actually were. Before he never would have been able to say that things were okay at all. 

Wade carefully rubs his thumb behind Peter’s ear as he holds the boys head to his shoulder, finally fully relaxing into the embrace and holding Peter a little tighter in return. He hasn’t even realized just how much he really missed holding someone in his arms like this. 

“If there is anything I can ever do for you Wade, anything at all, please just tell me and I will make it happen. You’re the nicest man I have ever met and you deserve the world.” Peter whispers softly into his shoulder.

“And you’re a brilliant person who is going to rule the world someday, Peter.” he chuckles deep in his throat. 

“Oh please.” Peter pulls back a little and shudders. “I would never want to rule the world. That is far too much work. I would just like to leave my mark behind in some small way. Even if I only change one person's life, or do one good thing to benefit the world than I will have done my job right.” he smiles gently and moves one arm to gently rest his hand on Wade’s head, running his fingers through his short hair. 

“Don’t waste your one good deed on me.” he chuckles softly. “You can do so much more with your life.” 

“I don’t plan on stopping being kind to you at any extent. But I will do as much other good as I can.” There was that beautiful spark of determination in his eyes that was eerily familiar to Wade. But it was nice to see. 

Wade clears his throat a little and drops his hands to pat Peter’s leg softly and to draw attention to the position they were currently in with Peter kneeling on top of Wade.

“Oh! Heh uh s-sorry!” he stammers and falls off to the side, settling down close to Wade’s side instead of returning to his usual spot across the alley. Now that the contact barrier had been broken Peter seemed to have no issue being close to Wade. 

“It’s alright. I didn’t mind. I just didn’t want to make things awkward between us, you know?” 

“Oh. Yeah. Right. Definitely.” if Wade didn’t know any better he would have thought that Peter sounded a little heartbroken. “Hey uh I gotta go. Homework and stuff. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Peter stands up and waves at Wade before walking away in a hurried manner, leaving Wade wondering if he had said something wrong to make Peter run away. 

“See ya later Petey. Until tomorrow.”


	5. Darkness taking over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> So..  
> *awkward velociraptor noise* holy moly guys this one is bad! But really- this is one dark chapter so if you are easily triggered by: 
> 
> Self harm (Specifically cutting) 
> 
> Anxiety Attacks and Severe crippling Depression
> 
> Genuine Insanity and Dissociation 
> 
> Drugs, bought with the intent to OD 
> 
> And
> 
> Suicidal thoughts and Actions--
> 
> please please please be careful reading this. It will get better soon but this chapter is evil. I'm very sorry. But I'm not at the same time, to those who love angst as much as me; enjoy you evil lil shits.

The next day came and went and Peter did not show up in the alley. 

Wade didn’t think very much about it at first. He was of course a little disappointed, seeing Peter had become the best part of every day and he looked forward to it very much, but he knew Peter was taking extremely tough classes and many of his teachers loved to traumatise the students by giving surprise tests and mountains of homework all at once so he really just figured that he had a rough day at school and went straight home to do homework or try to recover from the emotional shock of a surprise test that gave him an anxiety attack, which has happened before according to Peter. 

Or maybe he’d gotten called in last minute after class to cover an emergency shift at the coffee shop. Peter didn’t need the money since his dad was comfortably loaded, but he loved the shop and he really enjoyed making coffee and getting to eat free sweets as an employee benefit so he had a tendency to work quite often whenever he could. 

Peter was under no obligation whatsoever to actually come see Wade everyday, so the man was just grateful he did it as much as he could and he did not hold it against him that he couldn’t make it that day. 

He ate the snickers bar from their first meeting since he did not have any other food for the evening. 

When Wade woke up the next morning he had a weird feeling that had settled deep in his gut, causing him to be a little uneasy all throughout work. He could not explain what the feeling was, or where it was coming from but he was incredibly uncomfortable about it. 

He was also uncomfortable with the miniscule amount of tips he’d made that day. Not a lot of people had come by thanks to inconsistent but still annoying snow flurries, and many of the ones that did were not regulars and did not bother to dump some change for Wade. 

Winter was quick on its way and he was so close to his goal yet no where close enough, at least in his own mind. Realistically he only needed about a hundred more to cover a down payment and the first month of rent, which he could get in a week if he pinched every penny, but he was somehow struggling to see the brighter side of anything for some reason. 

The edgy feeling in his gut only increased more when he got to his alley and Peter was not standing there waiting for him. He pauses a little and looks around for any signs that the boy had been there at all, a sticky note, a candy bar, anything at all, but his search had turned up entirely empty. There was nothing. No signs that Peter had ever been there other than his old backpack that was still lying with Wade’s suitcase. 

Wade decided it was as good a time as any to go take a shower and do some laundry so he loads his bag up and walks on his way to the laundromat, keeping his eyes peeled to see if he could catch a glimpse at all of Peter anywhere. Even his unstable mind was not willing to project a teaser image of him anywhere. 

The shower made him feel a little better on the outside, chasing away the cold from his aching joints and removing the grease from the deep fryer from his arms and face, but it did nothing to get rid of the unsettled feeling in his belly. 

 

‘Wonder what that is all about. I usually don’t get weird feelings like that. I must be getting sick or something.’ he thinks to himself as he steps out of the shower and dries himself off with a scratchy towel that spared no sympathy for his scars, which were dry and cracked and beginning to bleed in a few of the worst areas from being out in the cold all the time. Maybe he would ask Peter for a bottle of skin lotion next time he saw him. 

~Or or or- you oblivious knucklehead- the feeling could have something to do with the fact that our daily visitor hasn’t been around the past two days. Fuckin moron.~ 

 

‘I’m sure it's nothing.’ he furrows his eyebrows as he silently tries to subdue the voice. ‘It’s that time of year where people start getting the flu left and right, and finals are coming up for Peter so he’s probably either sick or really tangled up in school right now. Once things are better he’ll be around again. I’m sure it’s not his fault.’ Wade was going to defend Peter to the ends of the earth. 

~ Alright. You go ahead and believe whatever you want to. Meanwhile I’ll be all alone up here in this empty cavern you’re supposed to call a brain knowing the truth.~

‘And just what do you think the truth is?’ Wade nearly growled out loud as he pulls his favorite ugly red christmas sweater on over his head. 

~That Peter finally gave up the little game of being nice to the stray mutt. You’ve opened up to him and he played your heart just to run off with it. He’s a liar, and a con artist and you fell for him just because of his name and pretty face.~ 

“Shut up.” he does bite out before correcting himself and switching his argument back to the inside of his head where it belonged. ‘Peter would not do that. Okay? You’re wrong. And I did not fall for him. We are friends and that is all we ever will be. I can’t do another relationship.’ 

~So you say now. But you know that if he asked you out you would have said yes.~ 

Wade could not argue with that, he most likely would have agreed if Peter wanted to date him despite his fear. He just could not be the one to make the first move again. But it was true that he really did not want a relationship again. Wade didn’t know what he would do if he got into a relationship and something were to happen to that person. The odds were small that another traumatic event would occur like it has in the past but even that tiny chance was too much of a risk for Wade to feel comfortable with.

~You know you’re weak.~ 

‘Why don’t you just go back to being a good little annoying brat and leave me alone.’   
He walks out of the shower stall and goes to the washing machine to collect his clothes, stuffing them in his bag as he treks back home. 

~It’s sad how we now consider a filthy alley to be home. Remember when we used to have a real home? Before you fucked it all up?~ 

‘Didn’t I tell you to zip it? You’re a part of /my/ head so you should ultimately listen to what I say.’ 

~Heh. Heheh. It’s so cute you think insanity works like that.~ 

‘I’m not insane.’ 

~ Say’s the man arguing with a voice in his head.~

‘Everyone hears voices in their heads sometimes.’ 

~But most people do not stop in the middle of a sidewalk to argue with them.~ 

Wade realized the voice was right and he had in fact stopped walking so he quickly continues on his way. He, again, knew that the voice was right and had no solid comeback to it. 

~Y’know I really love it when you know I’m right so you just try to pretend I didn’t say anything.~ 

‘You’re being particularly talkative today. What gives?’ 

~Your weak little mind is compromised which makes it easier for me to become stronger and take precedence.~

The voice had taken on a sinister tone like a children's movie villain, which would have been laughable to hear if it were in any other situation besides being a silent but taunting voice inside Wade’s head trying to make the man crack.

‘Compromised?’  
Wade was not sure he understood what the voice meant. He hides his clothing bag and pulls his mat and sleeping bag out, curling up in his bed to finish the conversation more comfortably. If things had to be this ugly, might as well be as comfy as possible while defending yourself from the evil voice in your head. 

~My God you’re stupid. This Peter kid has worked his way into your heart and brain. He already has a grip on you even without being in a relationship with him. And his absence is wearing on you. You’re worried about all the little possibilities even if you won’t admit it to yourself. You say you’re certain he’s just minorly ill or busy with school but I know you do not believe that completely. You know there’s just as good a chance that he finally grew tired of you as there is of him having the flu.~ 

‘Ok look you condescending little prick. Do you not remember anything of what happened the last time I was with Peter? He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t just rip my heart out on purpose.’ 

While the voice always referred to “we” as if they were the same person, Wade never grouped himself and the voice together if he could help it. 

~You don’t know him well enough to say for certain whether he would or not. I know on your side of the brain you still are under the illusion that this kid and the Peter we lost are somehow the same person. You’re not basing your assumptions off of what you know about this Peter but rather what you remember the other one being like. You have been setting yourself up for disaster from the very beginning with that mindset.~ 

Wade wanted to argue. He wanted to scream at the voice and tell him that it was not true but he couldn’t do it. Because it was.

Wade knew the dark voice was right. He has been allowing himself to fall into that unregulated and really unnoticed trap. He’d really become friends with Peter and spent so much time talking to Peter not because of the boy himself but because of how much he reminded Wade of his husband. And really a lot of the time he did allow for the mental overlap that made the two indistinguishable. 

When they would be talking about crappy customers at work or about how much they hated the cold, Wade was not talking to Peter Stark-Rogers but instead to Peter Parker, in his mind. 

“Fuck.” Wade breathes, watching the word leave his lips in a puff of steam. The cold seems to settle around Wade deeper than it has for a few weeks, both inside and out. 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-``-``--`-`-`-`-`-`-``-`-`--`

The next few days were what could have been called “rough”. 

A massive and unexpected snowstorm hit the city, leaving a little under an inch of snow covering the ground. While to anyone else in the city it was a harmless amount of white water, to the homeless man Wade that slept outside on that ground every night, the snow was a very big problem. 

He managed to press himself up as tight against the wall of the building as humanly possible, where the gutter and edge of the roof had provided a slight overhang that the snow did not get under. Unfortunately though that little change in location did nothing to defeat his number one enemy; the cold. 

With the snowstorm the temperature had also dropped to the point where twenty was considered the high for some days. 

Wade had tried to wrap up as tight as he could, putting on every layer of pants and shirts he had, plus his gloves and ratty old scarf that had been Peter’s once upon a time but the cold still welded itself to his bones and made even the idea of moving too miserable of a thought for him to fathom. 

Wade did not go to work on these days. Even if he had wanted to there really wouldn't have been any point. There were very few people walking around in this weather which meant few people that would be looking to buy tacos. Wade was too cold and too hurt to bother. 

Even if the weather had not been as bad as it was, Wade still probably would not have gone to work anyway because if there was one thing colder than the weather- it was Wade’s feelings. 

He has not seen or heard anything from Peter in eight whole days and he was going out of his mind. He was still trying to hold onto his faith in the younger man. ‘He’s really sick. He’s snowed in. Maybe there was a family emergency….’ but with each passing day these options seemed less and less likely. 

Wade was beginning to loose hope and the dark voice was slowly but surely completely taking over his mind.

 

`-`-`-`-`---`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`

By day 12 of not seeing Peter, Wade had given up completely. What was left of his mental strength had succumbed to the Voice, which was all too happy to ruin the fragile man completely. 

There was nothing he could do anymore. 

~You lost them both! It’s your fault our Peter died and now you’ve driven away the other Peter! I bet he’d already hooked up with some other cutie and is happy as can be curled up on a nice couch under a warm blanket and your miserable ass is nowhere close to being on it mind. You know why? Because you had to start to like him. Your affection is poison. You killed Peter. And you lost the boy that was starting to be your friend because your feelings grew too strong. See the common thread here?~ 

The voice was on its third or fourth round of brutally assaulting Wade’s mentality. The man had really lost count of the attacks because all he could focus on was trying to not hyperventilate as he was curled on his side sobbing. 

The pain was like a weight compressing his chest into the pavement below him, grinding rocks and gravel into the sensitive organ that was his broken heart. Even without the voice’s constant reprimanding, Wade likely would have still been in the same state. The Voice was just making it a hell of a lot worse. 

“P-please.. Please just.. Just make it stop!” he gasps in between sobs, not sure if he was asking the voice or some other factor. He was having a full scale panic attack, the likes of which he hasn't really had since just after Peter died.

~Make it stop he says. Wade, Wade, Wade. Poor little heartbroken Wade. Don’t you realize that you have the power to make it stop? You can take care of this right here, right now. But you won’t. Because you're too weak.~ the voice chuckles. 

“Please!” he wails and brings his hands up, clawing at the side of his head in frustration. 

~Alright alright since you’re too stupid to figure this out for yourself. Grab your knife.~ the voice instructs with slow, deliberate, and hypnotizing words. 

Wade does as he is told, his hand trembling violently as he opens the blade and stares at it with blank and unseeing eyes. 

~Good pet. Now, roll your sleeve up. Either arm- it does not matter. Do you see where I am going with this, Wade?~ 

At the man's slow nod, the voice seemed to smile at him. 

~Good. Than proceed.~ 

Wade takes a few small and shaky breaths before slowly and gently running his knife blade across his arm in a test motion before digging the ice cold steel blade into his soft and malleable flesh. 

A tiny gasp escaped his lips at the rush of endorphins and adrenaline that flooded his frozen veins at the feeling of his skin being sliced open. It hurt. Oh my god did it hurt. But it was better than the miserable and heavy dead pain that he'd carried in his heart since his life had fallen apart for the second time. 

Wade knew there was no pulling himself up out of the deep end now. He was drowning and no one was going to save him. He didn't have the desire to reset his life again. 

He watched as the first few drops of blood trickled from the wound and it triggered a manic frenzy. He grins like a man possessed and cuts deeper and deeper, laughing all the while. 

Wade did not stop cutting until his vision blurred and he passed out from overwhelming pain and blood loss. 

 

~Hey. Hey asshole. Wake up. I know you're not dead. You're so unsuccessful at everything you do that you actually managed to fuck up killing yourself.~ 

The voice was the first thing a groggy Wade Wilson heard. 

He slowly moves, looking at the pool of blood he was laying in. His arm was stretched out in front of him, covered in crisscrosses of angry red cuts. Blood was still trickling lazily out of a few of the worst of them but for the most part they had all stopped. It was a pure miracle that he had not bled out. 

Wade gives a soft groan and slowly moves himself into a sitting position, propping himself up against the wall and resting his sore arm on his lap. The arm felt strange. He's never cut himself before like this and he was a little intrigued to find that the pain was actually more similar to the feeling of doing a very heavy arm workout than anything else now that it was over and done with . He'd only cut up his left arm, everything else was untouched for in his panic attack induced insanity lapse, he had not thought about spreading the wounds out. 

He saw his knife lying beside his hip and he picks it up, carefully folding the blade back up and putting it in his pocket. He was done with the knife now. He gives a soft sniffle and stares blankly at the wall ahead, not seeing anything really there. 

He missed when Peter would have been sitting there but his mind was too worn down and groggy to even try to conjure up the image of it as a fake comfort. 

~You know what would be nice? Some good old fashioned pain meds. The kinda shit they give you after surgeries that make you all kinds of loopy and good feeling. Go find yourself a street dealer. It'll take your pain away Wade. The drugs will take all the pain away.~ the voice said it in such a sweet and convincing manner that Wade slowly fought his laborious way to his feet, wanting to do anything to make the pain stop. 

He removes his blood covered shirt and pants, ripping the shirt up to wrap around his arm to keep the cuts from bleeding through his new shirt and putting on different pants so he looked less like the victim of a crime scene. 

Before he left the alley, Wade ate the last candy bar Peter had given him, leaving the wrapper lay on the ground as he walks away somberly.

Wade Wilson had given up. 

 

After living on the streets long enough, Wade had of course learned where all the drug dealers hid around. Before he had obtained this knowledge so he could avoid them but now that he was actively seeking them out he was glad he knew. It made things a lot easier. 

Wade approached one of the less shady looking guys as per the voices request.  
~Ask for 100mg’s of Oxycodone. That should be enough for us.~ 

Wade didn't know much anything about drugs. He'd avoided the doctors at mostly any cost before so he was unfamiliar with prescription names, or proper dosage on anything like that. But he was certain that 100 milligrams of anything was a bad idea. 

Wade did as the voice said and he didn't even react when he was told the cost of those pills. He handed the cash over without any hesitance. Wade had given up his desire to buy himself an apartment. Or really his desire to do anything at all other than to cease to exist. 

He tucks the little baggy containing the pills back into his pocket and walks slowly back to the alley, knowing that this was where it was going to end. His system was already weak from blood loss and dealing with trying to healing the cuts so flooding it with such a powerful amount of this drug would kill him, he was sure. 

There would be no miracle this time. No shot at redemption and no coming back from this. 

He slips down the wall of his recent and last home and looks across the alley at the wall where Peter had sat and made him laugh, made him feel human again even for the briefest time.

He pulls the pills out of his pocket and empties the bag into his hand, feeling the small white pills rolling around in his palm. It was amazing for him to think that those little tablets could be the thing that finally ended his miserable life. All he had to do was swallow them. 

He lays his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. He was about to lift his hand to his mouth to put the pills inside when a soft voice reaches his ears. “It's pretty cold out, isn't it?”


	6. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!! And thanks for all the comments and kudos!

Last time:   
He slips down the wall of his recent and last home and looks across the alley at the wall where Peter had sat and made him laugh, made him feel human again even for the briefest time.

He pulls the pills out of his pocket and empties the bag into his hand, feeling the small white pills rolling around in his palm. It was amazing for him to think that those little tablets could be the thing that finally ended his miserable life. All he had to do was swallow them. 

He lays his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. He was about to lift his hand to his mouth to put the pills inside when a soft voice reaches his ears. “It's pretty cold out, isn't it?” 

Wade's hand drops back to his lap and his eyes fly open, brown meeting brown as they stare into the deep and friendly depths of eyes he never thought he would see again. 

His hand opens without realizing it and the pills spill onto the dirty ground but he couldn't bring himself to care. Nothing mattered. “P-Peter..Peter you.. you're..” 

~Can’t even form a coherent sentence? How pathetic. Finish what you started. This is all just a trick. You’re imagining it.~

‘Shut the fuck up.’ 

“Back? Yeah. I am. I'm sorry Wade. I didn't mean to be gone so long.” Peter slowly drops to his knees beside Wade, leaning crutches up against the wall as he makes his seat next to the homeless man and he looks at the ground next to Wade’s leg, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “What are those, Wade?” he asks quietly. 

“Where were you? You-you left.. Where did you go Peter?” he looks at him desperately, ignoring his question. 

“I’m sorry Wade. There was.. A little bit of an accident a few weeks ago. On my way home I wasn’t paying attention and I crossed the street... right in front of a car where the driver wasn’t paying any attention either.” Peter blushes a little and looked embarrassed by his confession. 

Wade takes a deep and pained sounding breath. “Are you a- you’re a ghost? He was right?” 

“He? Who’s ‘he’? And no. Absolutely not.” Peter chuckles softly. “I’m okay now. My ribs are still healing and my ankle is broken but I’m able to walk again now with crutches. They declared me concussion free yesterday too so to celebrate I came to see my best friend.” he takes a small breath. “I missed you Wade. It was torture for me to not be able to come see you.” he admits and leans over a little, stretching his wrapped in a cast leg out in front of him as he leans his head on Wade’s broad shoulder.  
“Unfortunately in between being locked up in the hospital for over a week and than being on house arrest from two very over protective dads I didn’t have much of a chance to come feed my favorite big lug.” he wraps his arm around Wade’s waist and snuggles up to him with a soft smile. He’d really missed Wade. Missed how he felt when he was around him.

Wade stayed absolutely silent through all of Peter’s rambling, not even sure if he was still breathing. When the boy leaned on him and he was able to feel the solid weight and warmth against his side he finally gave a little jerk in response. 

‘I’m imagining it..he’s not real.. He can't be real…’ 

“Wade?” Peter asks in a soft and questioning voice. “Please talk to me? I-I understand if you’re angry.. I would be mad at me too, but please don’t hate me.” his voice had faded off to barely more than a pleading whisper. 

“I thought you left me..” Wade finally whispers softly, blinking slowly as he looks down at the body snuggling his own. 

“NO! I-I wouldn’t-- I told you I wouldn’t abandon you Wadey.” Peter says with a tiny smile. There was a hint of panic in his voice since that was exactly what he was afraid Wade would be thinking. He felt horrible that he made the sweet man that he’d grown to care so deeply about feel like that. 

Wade winces a little at the use of the cute nickname that Peter called him. That was a strictly Peter Stark-Rogers nickname for him. “I’m really sorry. I really really am. But I- uhh I did get you something so this won’t happen again.. Well a couple of things actually but..” he shifts around a little and drops his favorite leather messenger bag off his shoulder, unbuckling the strap and opening it with a small smile that was both forced and real. 

Peter pulls a small white and clear plastic box out of the bag and removes the top from the box and pulls the contents out. He holds a silver Iphone 6 in his hand and turns it on, handing it over to Wade slowly.

“Perks of having a super rich dad, Iphones grow on trees and adding one extra line to the phone plan is not even a big deal. My number is already programmed into it so if anything ever happens to either of us we can let each other know so this doesn’t happen again.” he smiles happily. 

Wade slowly takes the phone in his hand that wasn’t hurting too badly to move and he looks it over cautiously. He presses the button to turn it on and was surprised to see a clearly customized homescreen of his name made out of city buildings and lights. 

“Like it? When I was under house arrest I made it while screwing around with photoshop on my laptop.” Peter says proudly. He looks at Wade with concern and his smile falters a little. “You still haven’t said anything..” 

~This is only a dream. You do not have to respond. He will disappear soon enough either way.~

‘But.. I can.. I can feel him..’ 

~You’re dying, Wade. Your mind has been saving the best hallucination for last.~ 

Wade looks from the phone to Peter and he slowly lays his cheek in the soft nest of wild brown hair that he’s always loved. The smell of Peter’s green apple shampoo invades his nose and a small tear fell down his cheek and landed on the shoulder of the brown trench coat Peter was wearing. 

“What are those pills, Wade?” Peter asks softly, his pale finger gently poking at one of the little tablets. He didn't want to know the answer. 

“Oxycodone.” he answers in a thick and heavy voice. His heart jumped a little in panic, not wanting Peter to even touch those pills. Even if this was all a vision in his head he didn't want the boy handling something that meant death. 

“Why were you about to take all those?” Peter knew. Wade knew that Peter already knew why. 

“...” he bites his lower lip softly and just takes a deep breath in response. 

“Wade. Say it. Why were you about to take all those pills.” Peter’s voice had hardened and his posture was tense and angry. 

“Suicide.” the word was a faint breath on Wade’s lips. “I want to die.” 

Peter closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to steady himself before he moves, throwing his leg over Wade’s lap and settling himself so he was sitting atop the older man, the boot his ankle was trapped in making the movement a little slower and more uncomfortable than it should have but he was willing to sacrifice his own comfort to make sure Wade was okay. “And why would you want to do that?” 

Wade couldn't look Peter in the eye. Or even in his general direction. “I..” 

“Wade. Fucking answer me.” Peter growls in a voice he has never used before, full of darkness and angry power. His hands clenched tightly in the material of Wade's sweater as he stares him down aggressively. 

Wade gulps thickly at the tone and he slowly raises his eyes to meet Peter's smoldering with rage brown orbs and he was quick to determine that anger was not a pretty look on him. “I.. I have nothing left. There's no point of me continuing to live.” 

Peter's jaw clenched dangerously and Wade could hear the audible click as his teeth ground together. “Nothing left? What about me you asshole?” He obviously was using a lot of restraint to keep his voice as mellow and level as it currently was. 

“You are gone.” Wade responded calmly, eyes looking away again. 

“Obviously not! Don't you feel this!” He tugs on the front of Wade’s shirt. “What if I slap you across your bitch mouth! Would you feel that?! You mother fucker how dare you!” Peter finally broke, his voice cracking as he screams at Wade with tears streaming down his face. “Look at me Wade! I'm here! I didn't leave you! And I don't want you to leave me!” Peter collapsed against his chest and sobs openly against it, hands still holding tightly to his shirt in a tight enough grip that Wade was almost certain his shirt was going to tare. 

“You're the only friend I have left Wade please- please don't do this to me. D-don't leave me. I need you.” He whimpered brokenly and brings one hand up to gently cup the older man's cheek. “Don't leave me, Wade Wilson. We need each other.” 

~Don't buy it! It's bullshit! THIS IS NOT REAL!!!~ the voice screams loudly, causing Wade to wince in pain. 

“I.. I'm here.. Peter.” He says slowly, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “I'm not gonna go anywhere.” Whether that was a lie or not, Wade could not determine. 

Suddenly Peter pulled a 180 in his mood, reaching into his coat pocket and digging around for a minute with hurried frustration. “Actually. You are going somewhere.” 

Wade looked at him blankly for a moment before his eyes widen in panic. “No! No Peter no don't send me to the hospital! Please no! I don't want to be locked away!” 

“Woah woah Wade calm down! I'm not going to send you to the hospital. I mean I probably should after what I just saw but I'm not going to.” Peter says softly, his expression caught somewhere between a grimace and a grin. He was hurt by seeing Wade’s panic but he was so excited by the news he was about to deliver that he was unable to completely stop smiling. He replaces his hand back on Wade's cheek and then grabs the other man's hand, opening his stiff fingers and pressing something cold into them before closing Wade's fingers around it. 

Wade looks down at his hand and flexes it against the cold object in it, opening his fingers and looking at the shiny silver key resting in his hand. “Wha-” 

“Before you freak out- no I did not buy you your own apartment. I did, however, buy my own and I am inviting you to be my roommate.” Peter bounces on Wade’s lap with excitement. 

Wade looks at Peter slowly and his heart twisted with something cruel and vastly foreign now as he sees the bright and childish excitement in Peter’s eyes. “Why would you do that?” 

Peter shrugs carelessly and smiles at Wade. “Well like I said- you’re my only real friend. And I want to help you in any way I can. Also I would rather come home and be able to sit in a warm living room to talk with you every night rather than sit in a cold dark alley.” 

“I- I can’t.. Peter I..” Wade couldn’t seem to find the words. He didn’t want to decline the amazing offer, he really didn’t. But there was no way he could possibly accept. It was too much.

“Wade. Stop it. I’ve already thought really long and hard about this. I want to do this for you. The whole reason I’ve been coming around here anyway is because I bought the apartment and was managing moving everything and getting it ready to live in. I was going to ask you and give you the key the day I got hit. I made my decision. Now I just need you to make yours.” He wasn’t going to force Wade into anything, he knew that pushing would make him uncomfortable. But he really wanted Wade to say yes, for reasons he couldn’t even figure out. 

“At least come see the apartment? You can get a shower there and I will make you some food than you can make your decision.” he offers, slowly standing up, grabbing at his crutches and jamming them under his arm as he stands at the mouth of the alley. “Come on Wade. It’s only going to get colder out here.” 

Wade takes a deep and slow breath and he rises off the ground, grabbing his bags and following Peter silently. The voice in his head was having a full blown meltdown, screaming at him to sit back down, to swallow those pills and stop falling for this illusion. He ignored it and straightened his back, squaring his shoulders as he walks with confidence beside Peter.

The walk was shorter than he’d expected and his heart skipped a jump when they stood in front of an all too familiar apartment building. “H-here?” 

“Yeah.. is there a problem with this building? Some on the street secret I don’t know?” Peter asks with a little smirk and he playfully jabs his elbow into Wade’s ribs, frowning a little when he noticed how skinny Wade had become. 

Wade shakes his head slowly and he swallows thickly. “No. No problem.” he motions with his head for Peter to continue. 

Peter opens the old glass door and walks into the lobby, not having any idea about the slam of nostalgia Wade was suffering from. The lobby smelled the same. Same ugly carpet. Same darkness that alway existed due to poor lighting. 

“Come on. This way. Fifth floor.” he motions his head towards the steps. “Elevators are scary here. I don’t trust them.” 

‘So they never repaired those death traps. Figured they wouldn’t though I would have thought that within the past five years they would have killed someone.’ he thinks, the tiny beginnings of a smile on his face as he and Peter wind their way up the steps to their desired floor, Wade having to help Peter up the steps since his crutches made it very difficult. 

Everything about it was the same. Wade felt a tear fall from the corner of his eyes though it was not necessarily a bad tear. The voice was quiet. He could feel it lurking in the dark recesses of his head but for the moment it was being silent which he was thankful for. 

“Here we are. 17!” Peter grins as he stops in front of an all too familiar door. “Th-this?” Wade was pretty sure his voice squeaked but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“Yep! Go on. You can open the door first.” he steps away from the door, letting Wade take it in. The same dark oak wood, the same patinating copper numbers hanging in the middle. All the way down to the chip in the door frame that Peter had made years ago trying to drag a couch in. 

Wade slowly steps forward and slips the key into the lock, turning slowly and hearing the click as the door unlocks. He turns the handle and pushes the door open, reaching his hand in and flipping the lightswitch on just from old instinct. Peter had always hated the dark so every time they’d come back from anything Wade always made sure their apartment had light in it before even fully opening the door. The habit stuck. 

Peter gave Wade a bit of a surprised look for knowing exactly where the lightswitch was without even having the door open but he didn’t comment, just letting the man do as he needed to; still completely oblivious to every thought racing through Wade’s mind. 

Wade stands in the doorway, his eyes running around the room. Things were different, obviously, but there were many things that were the same. The rooms seemed to be laid out the same as before, just with slightly different furniture. 

‘Of course, this Peter has a rich parent. He can afford more than dumpster recovery pieces.’ he walks in and looks around more, feeling his new emotions threatening to crush him. 

His knees buckle a little after he was fully in the door and before he knew it his legs gave out from under him, sending him falling to the floor on his hands and knees. 

“Wade!” Peter shouts in surprise and looks down at him. “What happened? Are you okay!?” He was obviously struggling to figure out what to do since he couldn't just fall beside his friend due to his injury. 

Wade gave a soft and small nod, tears streaming down his face. “This was.. This was my home. Before my husband died this was our apartment.” he whispers softly, slowly pulling himself to his feet. “It just caught me off guard a little. I’m sorry.” He wipes the tears from his face, determined to at least pretend to be stronger than this. 

“Oh god Wade please no don’t apologize. I had no idea.” Peter looks down with surprise. He had felt a weird obsessive compulsion to buy this apartment, there were many other ones available, especially in nicer neighborhoods like his father had wanted him to move to but he had been determined that he was going to live in Queens and something had drawn him to this building in particular. He had bought this place without hesitance after months of searching. 

Wade looks at everything and he smiles with a bittersweet expression. “This is how he would have loved to decorate if we had more money. He would love your style.” he compliments Peter. 

Peter just stood there looking at him as if unsure how exactly to respond to that which made Wade chuckle a little. The expression was so painfully familiar and adorable. “You promised me a shower?” 

“O-oh y-yeah. Go ahead. I’m assuming you know where it is?” Peter stutters a little. 

“Sure do. Mind if I use all your hot water? It’s..ahh.. Been a while?” he admits with a nervous blush. He had really let himself go when Peter was not around and he was in dire need of a shower and shave. 

When Peter gave him the all clear, he drags his bags back to the bathroom and shuts the door before collapsing against it, the surprise and pure shock at everything overwhelming him. 

First Peter had come back right before he was about to kill himself, revealing that he had not actually abandoned Wade but was instead in a horrible accident- which really did make Wade feel like a dick for assuming something so negative when it wasn’t really Peter’s fault at all- than he gave him the key to an apartment that turned out to be his old home and he was given the chance to live with him. 

‘What. The. Fuck.’ Wade couldn't believe it and the voice was still too seethingly angry that it's plan to kill Wade had failed to actually say anything. 

He stays on the ground for a couple of minutes before collecting himself and stripping his clothes off, turning the water on to warm up while doing so. 

He unwraps the torn shirt from around his arm and winces at how bad the cuts looked. Wade knew that it was bad. And probably very close to getting infected. Peter was going to flip out when he saw this but Wade had to tell him. He had to get this taken care of before it became a bigger problem and he had to go to the hospital. He definitely needed some help dealing with this and he trusted Peter to take care of him. 

The sanity was slowly returning to his mind as he relaxed and realized all the dumb things he's done and was about to and he really felt like punching himself in the face for it. He climbs into the hot shower and nearly moaned in relief as he finally got to stand under hot water, giving him a fantastic break from the cold. Also knowing that he did not have to pay by the minute for this shower and he could honestly stand here for a half hour if he wanted to was enough to make him cry in happiness. 

He thought of all the times he and Peter had showered here together and for once there wasn't really as much pain with the memory as there was just a pleasant feeling. His memories with Peter were something to be cherished and loved, not looked at with pain, he'd finally realized. 

Being that close to death had really taught him a few things like that. 

Wade gently scrubs all the grime and sorrow off his body, the water running red and than pink for quite a few minutes as the dry blood dissolved and washed away. It felt good, freeing, to be clean of it. To Wade it felt like he was washing his past away. The dark parts of it anyway. 

‘I will never forget Peter, or the things we did. But I have a chance at having something good again and I will not let the bad things and the fear of something going wrong ruin it for me.’ he thinks as he looks at the brand new bottles of shampoo that Peter had sitting on the edge of the sink and he shrugs, figuring the boy wouldn’t mind that much. 

He grabs the shampoo and pours some into his hand, rubbing it into his hair and sighing happily as the smell surrounded him and helped to further relax him. If he was going to actually stay here he would have to get his one body wash and shampoo- as well as reevaluate his situation entirely. 

If he accepted this offer he’d be skipping straight over the whole process of buying his own place and he could instead focus on finding a good career and working on healing his wreaked mental health. Even if for no other reason- that alone was enough to make him want to take Peter up on his crazy generous offer. 

~He has to have some ulterior motive. No one is just that nice.~ 

‘So you do believe that he's real now?’ Wade huffs and stands under the hot water to relax after tensing up from the reappearance of the voice. 

~No. I’m not entirely convinced. But you seem to be falling for all this really hard regardless. You have your fun now. I’ll catch up to you later when I end up right and you tear your sensitive little heart out anyway.~ the voice sounded one hundred percent positive of that as it slowly faded back into the darker recesses of Wade’s mind. 

Wade shakes his head and wipes some water off his face, feeling it starting to begin to cool down. He shuts the water off and steps out, finding a towel and drying himself off carefully, mindful of his arm and all the of his still hurting scars. The cold was the worst thing for his sensitive skin and it felt so nice to be away from it for a while. 

He looked around and realized all his clothing was dirty and gross and he really did not want to put them back on. He pouts and grabs the robe that was hanging on the door. He’d apologize to Peter later for it but he was almost sure the boy wouldn’t mind. 

He slowly opens the door and peeks his head out, looking around the corner. Peter, exactly like Wade had predicted him to be doing, was laying on the couch fiddling around with his obviously new phone. “Hey. I’m done.” he calls softly, startling the brown haired boy.

Peter looked up at him and grins, moving so he was sitting up. “How was it?” 

“Better than the laundromat showers, for sure.” he chuckles. “Hey uh so all my clothes are disgusting and I just got all clean.. Is it okay with you if I steal your robe for a little bit? I will do my laundry as soon as I get the chance.” he mumbled in embarrassment. 

He was met by a huge grin and an eager nod. “Of course! That's fine Wade, please make yourself comfy. It's more your home than mine anyway.” He laughs and leans his head against the back of the couch. 

“Great. But uh.. Yknow that scaring that's on my face? It's everywhere. And it's ugly.” Wade mumbles and pulls the front of the robe tighter around his chest. 

Peter's face softened and he smiles gently at Wade. “Your scars don't matter to me. I promise. Is that why you're hiding behind the door? Come out here you goofball.” His voice was so warm and happy that Wade couldn't help but listen to his orders. 

He slips out from behind the door and walks towards the couch, keeping his head down as he slinks his way towards Peter. He slowly sits on the edge of the couch about as far away from Peter as he could, not wanting to make the other uncomfortable. 

“Why sit so far away? I don't have some infectious disease you're gonna catch by sitting too close to me.” Peter teases lightheartedly. “Come here.” He pats the space right next to him. 

Wade looks at Peter longingly and slowly scoots over so he was much closer to the boy. Peter took one glance at his arm and his eyebrows fly up into his hairline in alarm. “Wade! Your arm!” He squeaks loudly. 

The older man sighs and shrugs. “Yeah uh..” 

“Wade, goddamnit.” Peter seethes and stands up. “Come here. Sit on that chair and roll your sleeve up. I'm going to get the first aid kit.” He huffs and busied himself by flurrying around the apartment to gather all the things he'd need to care for Wade's wounds. 

He kneels in front of the taller guy and opens a pro level first aid kit, grabbing a disinfectant wipe and some bandaids. 

He roughly grabs Wade's hand to hold him still and rips open the packet of wipes, gently rubbing the cold, wet cloth against the angry red lines. “Why the hell would you do this to yourself Wade..” He asks softly, sounding like he was in pain himself. 

“Do you think your husband would like to see you doing this? Would he want this for you?” 

“No. He wouldn't. In fact he probably would kill me himself if he could see everything I've done.” He chuckles a little. 

“I'm feeling the urge to do that myself.” Peter remarks and pressed down a little as he drags the disinfectant over a particular deep wound, turning Wade's arm a little to look at it from a different angle. “You really should get stitches on this one. But it's not bleeding anymore so.. I'm gonna keep my eye on it. I know the basics of how to do stitches if I need to do it but I would rather not.” 

Wade nods a little and bites his lip. “Thank you Peter.” 

“Don't thank me just- promise you're never going to do something like this again. Please. You are worth more than this.” He says and gently lays a tender kiss to Wade's wrist, his fingers running over the burn scars on the back of that arm and up his shoulder. “What happened here? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.. I'm just curious.” 

“Army.” Wade shrugs. “I got the shit kicked outta me in boot camp as an over eager 17 year old that thought I was gonna be amazing and fake my identity and join the army. Still didn't stop me though. I ran into action as fast and hard as I could. I thought I was invincible. And I was pretty damn good.” He chuckles softly. “But I guess I wasn't that good. One day over in Afghanistan I got cocky. I thought they had cleared everything and we were just doing a final sweep. I ran headfirst into a building that blew up not five seconds after I was inside. I got pretty lucky I guess. I mean- I lived. Most of the other guys in my unit didn't have that fortune. But when they pulled up my medical records and noticed some things not lining up they busted me for forgery and lying about my age. Luckily they took some damn pity on me and didn't screw me over for the rest of my life. They just dishonorably discharged me and let that be the end of it.” Wade didn't seem to have too difficult of a time retelling this story. He's had a lot of time to come to terms with it and for the worst part of it he'd had Peter there to get him through it. 

Peter had listened carefully to the story and he nods, his fingers continuing to gently trace the strange scars. “You really have had one hell of a life, haven't you Wade Wilson?” his voice was filled with awe and a reserved adoration. 

“Yeah. I guess I really have.” Wade answered with a soft smile. “For better or for worse.” 

“I would say for the better. All the things you have been through have made you so much stronger and unique.” Peter’s cool fingers trace softly over the new self harm scars on his arm. “You’ve obviously had some rough spots, but you’re a good man underneath it all Wade. And that is what makes you so special and interesting.” 

Wade smiles and nods slowly. “Thank you Peter. For everything.” words could not express how grateful he really was for the young boy walking into his life. Even if he was not his husband, he clearly had the same heart as him. 

“Like I said. You don’t have to thank me. I just want you to stop this negative thoughts about yourself. I want you to feel better.” Peter leans in and reverently kisses his wrist again before standing up. 

“I’m going to go get a shower myself and then we’ll talk more about everything, okay?” he asks with a gentle grin, patting the top of Wade’s head before walking off towards the bathroom. They still had to discuss whether Wade would be staying or not. 

Peter was nervous to leave Wade alone. He didn’t want the man to leave and since Wade had not actually confirmed that he was staying, there was a chance he would go. 

But when Peter came back out of the bathroom, Wade was curled up on the couch, sleeping deeply with heavy breaths. The 22 year old walks forward and gently pulls a blanket off the back of the couch, draping it over the larger body. 

Without it ever being said, they both knew that he wasn’t going anywhere.


	7. Closer

As the days passed, Peter and Wade quickly learned that living with one another came as easy as breathing. 

One of the main reasons why Peter had moved out of Stark Tower was so he could have some of his own personal space away from his fathers, yet living alongside Wade was no problem. He never felt cluttered or claustrophobic around the older man despite the fact that Wade did tend to take up quite a bit of space even though he owned really nothing of his own yet. They were taking steps to remedy that, however. 

Immediately after Wade had woken up the first day of living there he had dug through his bag and handed Peter some money. Since he did not have to save to buy his own place anymore he could afford to get himself some nicer clothes and things he had been hesitant to buy before. But since his plan was to burn most of the old stuff- at least the blood covered articles- and all he had was Peter’s slightly too small robe he was requesting that Peter do the shopping for him. 

He trusted Peter with whatever outfits he would pick out for him since he knew Pete had a solid fashion sense so he just left it up to “surprise me”. 

Peter argued that he didn’t want Wade’s money and he could just buy the things for him but Wade insisted on taking it. He also already began arguing about paying half the rent each month, which triggered a long winded conversation that ended in the two fully grown men having a pillow fight on the living room floor. 

And when Peter returned with some ridiculously high end clothes and still was able to hand Wade back change- the older man knew he had bought some himself but he let it slide. 

To Wade, life has not been this sweet since five years ago before everything fell apart. He was back in his old apartment, living with a boy who was nearly impossible to distinguish from his husband anymore. The more time he spent with Peter, the more he realized that he may have been right all along. There was almost no way that they were not the same person. All their weird little ticks and habits, the way they reacted to things, the way they operated their daily lives.. It was all too similar. 

Wade had never been a religious man. He’d never bought into the idea of a heaven or a hell, or of really any form of an afterlife. Even after Peter died he still didn’t buy into any of it, more cursing whatever god that may or may not exist rather than praying to him like many people do after losing a loved one. 

But after figuring out that he had a smartphone he could do internet things with, he drove himself into research about reincarnation. He’s heard minimal things about it before, mostly he just knew it was a word that existed in the English vocabulary and, honestly that was about the extent of it. 

He’d heard terms like “Satan Incarnate” being applied to evil people but he never really understood what any of that meant in great length. So he researched it.

He spent hours every night on the couch after Peter had gone to bed searching the internet and reading up about different theories behind it. And the more he read, the more he became convinced that it was entirely possible that his Peter’s soul has found it’s way back to him. 

Wade read that often times things that reincarnate come back in entirely different forms than what they were when they died, like a human may come back as a dog to guide their loved ones to complete a purpose they may not have fulfilled in life, but yet somehow Peter had managed to not only come back as a human but a form that was so strikingly similar to his old form. 

It made sense to him in a way but made him wonder what purpose Peter served in returning. Not that he was questioning or dissing the fact that it'd happened. 

‘Now if only I could figure out how to talk to Peter about this..’ 

 

Wade was sound asleep on the couch when Peter came bursting out of his room, running around like a chicken with its head cut off as he panicked over something. He had his shirt halfway on and backwards as well as hopping around with only one leg in his pants, which were hanging off his knee. The older man looks up, took one long glance at Peter before dropping his head back into the pillow, a smirk on his face. 

“Starting the day off rough?” He teases. 

“Shut it Wade! I'm late!” Peter grabs one of his protein bars off the counter and throws it at Wade, hitting him square in the chest with deadly accuracy. 

Wade didn't react to being hit other than to grab the bar and begin eating it even though to him those things just tasted like glorified cardboard. 

“Late for what? It's a Saturday.” Wade says off handedly around a mouthful of whatever godawful substance that bar was made out of. Sometimes Wade just did things he didn’t understand why he did it- like eating Peter’s garbage healthy food. 

Peter came to a screeching halt and looks at Wade incredulously. “It's what?” 

“Saturday? Y'know.. The weekend? I swear college boy, you think you'd keep better track of the days.” 

“Oh my god.” Peter drops his butt into one of the kitchen chairs and let's his head fall to the table with a heavy ‘thud’. “I thought it was Thursday. I'm sleep deprived, Wade. I'm losing my mind due to lack of proper sleep.” 

Wade chuckles and rolls his eyes, sitting up and stretching so his shoulders popped loudly. “Well baby boy it goes without saying. I mean you are sitting there with your shirt on backwards and your pants only half on.” He says pointedly. 

Peter didn't even have the care enough to be embarrassed about his current state. He just didn't seem to care what weird situations Wade found him in despite having such horrible anxiety about things like that usually. 

“Do me a favor. If I'm not asleep by midnight tonight I want you to come in and smother me with a pillow until I'm unconscious.” Peter groans into the tabletop and shakes his head as he sits up. 

“Did you just eat my protein bar?” 

Wade looks at the empty wrapper in his hand. “Uhh.. Yeah?” 

“And there goes my breakfast.” Peter laughs and smiles as he leans his head over the back of the chair. “Guess you have to make it up to me now.” it was clear where Peter was going with this. 

“Alright alright I can take the hint. What do you want?” Wade laughs and stands up, walking towards the kitchen. 

“Some of your pancakes sound great right about now. And some Irish coffee.” Peter mumbles the last part. 

“Really Peter? It's not even Eight in the morning and you're already wanting to get shit faced?” Wade had learned the hard way that Peter had probably the lowest tolerance to alcohol of any man ever and he was quite the emotional drunk. Peter had slept on the couch with Wade that night, crying himself to sleep over the soul crushing guilt he felt for killing a fly earlier that day. 

“Have you seen how this day as started? Do you think anything can make it much worse?” Peter arches his eyebrow. 

“I'll make you the pancakes but no go on the liquor.” Wade smiles and pulls the things out of the cabinets to make his special homemade pancakes. 

“But Daddyyyy why?” Peter groans teasingly. Wade had to ignore the stab of horniness he felt at Peter calling him that. Since they'd really broken the boundaries of being comfortable with each other Peter had taken right to teasing Wade every chance he could get. Sexually or otherwise. 

Wade was very confused about everything. He couldn't tell whether Peter was just screwing with him or if the boy had any actual interest in him. 

And if he actually was interested- Wade didn't know how to respond to it. With his newfound knowledge that Peter may actually be his husband it did give him the hope that maybe they could rekindle their relationship- but he was terrified to do that. He didn't want to give this Peter the kiss of bad luck he'd given the other. 

“Because I said so. Now do you want apple juice or milk?” He said in his best authoritative voice as he was already pouring Peter a cup of coffee and mixing his favorite vanilla flavored creamer into it. 

He slides the coffee mug towards Peter and cracks an egg into the mixing bowl at the same time, humming loudly as he starts to make their breakfast. 

“You might actually be the best person alive.” Peter comments as he sips at his perfectly made coffee. “I can see the headlining title on Times magazine already. ‘Wade Wilson, Person of the year’.” 

Wade snorts and rolls his eyes. “Alright. Yeah. Right after they find a cure for cancer and land a space shuttle on Pluto.” 

“You never know. I'm making a write in submission of your name to them.” Peter chuckles and continues drinking the coffee while Wade started pouring the batter into the frying pan. 

“You do that and I'll take a casual walk on the ceiling.” Wade huffs. 

“Get walkin then.” Peter smiles and leans back in his comfortable chair. 

“Such a little brat.” Wade laughs and flips the perfectly forming pancake. 

Peter just hummed in agreement and waited for his food. He knew he had Wade pressed under his thumb and the man would kill for him, but luckily he just used that power for coffee, pancakes, and amazing dinners. 

Since moving in with Peter, Wade had put on a significant amount of weight, looking healthier than he has in forever. This honestly happened because Peter had a strange addiction to Wade’s cooking and he asked him to do it every night which meant Wade both ate while he was cooking, sampling everything as he went, as well as actually sitting down and eating the meal with Peter. 

Plus he started bathing every day now, sometimes even twice a day just because he could, and wearing a different outfit everyday. Wade was an entirely different man than the one living in the alley, and to Peter it was the best thing ever to see. 

The man was also full of a boundless and happy energy that actually surprised the college boy. For someone that he found attempting suicide in an alley just a few weeks ago, Wade smiled more than any human being Peter has ever seen. He almost always was humming or singing and finding new things to amuse himself with.

One of those things was working out. Wade had become adamant about doing at the very least a 45 minute session of different exercises every day. While he was putting weight on his ribs and looking more healthy every day for it, he did not want to let himself become over weight either so he made sure he kept up on his exercises. 

But when he wasn’t working out Wade had rediscovered his age old love affair with video games and was caught playing Mario Kart on Peter’s Wii almost every night when Peter came back from class. 

Living with Wade was easy and Peter would not trade it for the world now. 

After breakfast the two men decided that they were going to spend a lazy Saturday together, Peter going back to his room and putting sweatpants and a baggy sweater on and Wade never changing out of his Pjs as they curled up on the large couch and had a brief discussion over which movie they wanted to watch. 

Wade ended up winning and ‘The Proposal’ it was. As much as Peter made fun of Wade about his clear preference for rom coms and chick flicks, it was just another little piece of the puzzle that made him so special and wonderful. 

They spent the whole day eating popcorn, watching movies, and making funny commentary on everything in every movie. Peter also learned that they shared a mutual love for Ryan Reynolds and spent an hour basically just mooning over him. 

And once Wade pointed out how similar in appearance he himself was to the actor, Peter couldn’t stop blushing as he nodded his agreement. 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`

 

Wade made them fresh mac and cheese for dinner and they watched a few episodes of the Golden Girls before Peter started yawning more consistently and Wade turned the tv off and insisted he go to bed. 

Peter did so with a bitter frown that made Wade laugh and tease him before the younger boy disappeared into his room. 

Wade guessed he was alone for all of a half hour before Peter’s bedroom door opened and quiet little footfalls could be heard approaching the couch.

“What are you doing Petey? You’re the one that told me to make you go to bed.” he says in a quiet voice as he watches the boy come and sit down beside him. 

“I can’t sleep.” he explains in an equally quiet voice as he leans his head back and looks sideways over at Wade. 

“I’m not going to actually smother you with a pillow if that is what you came out here to ask me to do.” 

Wade felt his heart swell up in affection at the cute and quiet little laugh Peter gave. “No, I don’t want you to actually suffocate me.” he pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath, obviously scared to ask whatever he was about to. “Would you mind just.. Sleeping in my room? Just tonight I- I’ve been having really weird nightmares that keep me up and I just..”

“Don’t want to be alone. I understand, Pete.” Wade smiles and stands up slowly. “Come on. Race you there! Winner gets first choice of sides!” he dashes off towards the room, feeling Peter right on his tail. 

They jump into bed together and roll around, wrestling with each other and laughing before finally settling into the mattress and closing their eyes. They started on separate sides and woke up in each other's arms but it was the best sleep either of them had gotten in years. 

It was also never stated out loud but after that night Wade never slept on the couch again and when half of Peter’s closest became full of Wade’s clothes- he never complained at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking possible requests for prompts to write over my holiday break. Any suggestions or things you guys want to see just drop em in the comments or message my kik-dawnwolf17. 
> 
> Also available on tumblr @ ask-teen-Spidey. HMU!!!


	8. Blackout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter till the end, guys! I will be doing a little three part bonus chapter afterwards but this is it for the main drama xox hope you all enjoy!!

“I’m so bored.” Wade complains as he was laying upside down on the couch, throwing a tennis ball up towards the ceiling and catching it repeatedly. 

Peter was seated at his desk in front of the window, typing away furiously on his laptop to complete a lab report that was most definitely going to be late no matter what happened now. 

“Not my problem.” he throws over his shoulder. Peter had been very cranky the past few days, finals were slamming him hard and even with the promise of christmas break right around the corner he could not seem to catch a break or relax for even a second before another assignment was flung at his head. 

Wade felt pity for the boy, watching him rip his hair out as he tired to think of a more creative but professional phrasing of ‘fuck this bullshit’ for his final English essay was a sad experience but it did make Wade sort of appreciate the fact that he’d been smart enough to realize that he never would have made it through college. 

Not that the military had worked out all that great for him either but.. 

“When are you going to be done?” he asks Peter with a childish and whiny voice. 

“Probably when hell freezes over if you keep distracting me.” the young boy growls as he shuffles through his papers to find the one that held the data he needed. Of course it was at the very bottom of the mountainous pile of papers, notebooks, textbooks, and other trash articles that had accumulated on top of Peter’s desk over the week. Peter was ready to scream when he finally found it. 

“Man you really need a hug and some relaxing TLC.” He lifts his head up to look at Peter better though he did not have to clearly see his face to know the look of frustration that would be there. 

“I need a magic elf to swoop in and do all my organic chem homework before I lose my goddamn mind.” the poor struggling college student cries. 

“Judging by the amount of profanity I have witnessed coming out of you mouth in the past half hour I’d say you’re partway there.” Peter rarely ever swore, Wade had learned, but when he was severely stressed and angry he could curse with the best of em without hesitation. 

“I think I am honestly losing my grip on reality. Everything is just a massive blur of numbers, equations, words, and teachers voices haunting my dreams.” 

“Poor baby..Hey I have an idea. Why don’t you finish that paper you’re working on right now and then go take a nice hot shower and then I’m going to take you out to dinner. Get your mind off school a little. I mean plus come on baby boy I’m getting a little jealous over here. For the past week you have done nothing but homework. I’m starting to feel a little neglected and unloved.” 

Peter stops typing and takes a slow and deep breath before turning around in his swivel chair, looking at Wade with a softened gaze. The older man prepared for rejection but was pleasantly surprised to find Peter in agreeance. 

“You’re right. I haven’t been paying very much attention to you lately, unless it’s me yelling at you for being a nuisance. I’m sorry. I would love to go to dinner with you.” Peter smiles, more through his eyes than his lips but the point was taken very clearly. 

“No need to apologize Petey. I know you’re stressed to the max right now and I’m not doing much to help. I’ll stop bothering you now so you can finish up.” he gets up and squeezes Peter’s shoulder firmly as he walks off towards their bedroom to pick out a nice outfit for himself. 

Wade cleaned and organized their messy room- something Peter has been talking about doing for a few weeks but never had the time to do- and laid out nice classy casual outfits for each of them. 

He would do anything he could to take some weight and stress off Pete’s shoulders. Poor kid was running himself to death with his throttle wide open. 

After he’d insured that the bedroom was in perfect condition he moved on to cleansing the kitchen and bathroom, making their apartment shine like new. They tried to keep it as clean as possible, but usually if a pot boiled over and stained the glass top of the stove- no one bothered to clean it up. 

Wade knew that Peter saw what he was doing, every so often he’d catch the boy looking over his shoulder and watching him clean. He just offered him a friendly smile and a soft “get back to work” every time he caught him. 

Wade could tell Peter was nearly entirely burnt out, his shoulders were sloped and sagging, he made more typos than he spelled words correctly due to lazy fingers -which he announced with a colorful curse word every time-, and more than once Wade saw his head drooping towards the desk as he nodded off for a moment. 

If Wade knew anything at all about Organic Chemistry he would have gladly just written the paper for Peter and told him to go take a nap. But he didn’t so the next best thing he could do was eliminate any other stressor he could. 

By the time four fifty two in the afternoon rolled around Peter slammed his laptop shut and lets out a victorious, albeit tired, whoop of victory. That paper was due at five so he’d nailed it just in the nick of time. 

Wade grinned and ran into the living room, pushing Peter’s chair with him still in it all the way to the bathroom door while Peter tucks his legs up to his chest and giggles as he’s pushed around. 

Wade could already see an improvement in Peter’s spirit after getting that huge assignment done. It was a relief. 

“Go and take the longest and hottest shower you can stand. I made us reservations at that really nice Italian place a few blocks from here for six so you’ve got plenty of time to get ready.” Wade smiles as he lays a kiss in Peter’s fluffy hair before disappearing off again to do who knows what. 

He waited around patiently, laying on the freshly made bed as he waits for Peter. He heard the door open and saw the light in the hallway. “Wade. Clothes.” Peter calls, sticking his head out the door to summon his roommate. 

Wade grabbed his preselected outfit for Peter and carries it to the bathroom, draping the clothing across Peter’s outstretched arms and watching as it disappeared into the bathroom with a disembodied ‘thank you’. 

He rushes back to the bedroom and dresses himself in a nice red sweater paired with blue jeans, which went nicely with the outfit he’d picked for Peter that consisted of a matching blue sweater with black skinny jeans for his favorite little hipster. 

Peter came out of the steam filled bathroom with a towel wrapped around his head to dry his wild hair and he smiles at Wade. “Couple outfits much, Wade?” he teases as he notes the similarities in their attire. 

Wade just shrugged and didn’t move from his spot on the bed, laying relaxed with his hands behind his head. 

“You know sometimes if I didn’t know any better I’d think that when you do stuff like this that it’s your way of asking me on a date without ever saying it. Like you are silently claiming me and the only one that isn’t in on it is me.” he says with a small pout. His tone definitely held a note of hope if you listened to it right.

Wade made no move to confirm it...but he certainly didn’t deny it either. He just shrugs again and smiles crookedly at him. 

Peter rolls his eyes and comes towards the bed, crawling up on top of Wade and straddling his waist playfully. He leans down and pokes the older man's nose gently. “Don’t think I’m not on to you, Wade Wilson.” 

“Well quite literally you are very much ‘on’ me right now.” he finally responds with a smile, hands coming up to rest on Peter's narrow but shapely hips. To any other people this would seem like an extremely intimate and probably even sexual situation, but for Wade and Peter it was just something they were comfortable with. The two men never really seemed to have had any issues with personal space with one another. 

“True. Way to swing that one on me.” Peter laughs and rolls off Wade so he was laying beside him. The smaller and lanky man throws his leg over Wade’s and his arm across his waist. “You’re always so warm. I don’t get it.” he whines as he cuddles as close as possible to his favorite living space heater. 

“And you’re always impossibly cold. I’ve never met someone that gets chilled as easily as you, Petey. It’s a miracle you’re not sick every day.” he teases with a chuckle. As bad as it sounded, Wade liked when Peter was sick. He enjoyed playing nurse and bringing him bowls of homemade chicken noodle soup and medicine and wrapping him tightly in blankets and turning him into a Peter-burrito. A Peterito as he liked to call it. 

“Tough immune system.” Peter shrugs and slips his icy cold hands under Wade’s back, making the older man yelp and arch his back off the bed a little in surprise. 

“You know if you wanted to actually take me on a date you could always just ask?” Peter said in a quiet voice that Wade had to strain to hear. Even still he wasn’t sure he had actually heard that right. 

“Come again?” he asks and looks down at him curiously. 

“Nothing.” Peter blushes furiously, his face a bright red color that Wade had fallen in love with all over again. 

“No that’s not fair Peter. Tell me what you said. You know I have shitty hearing from having my eardrums damaged in war.” he pokes the cute boys side to make him squirm. 

Peter seemed to consider it a second before talking again. “I said that if you want to ask me out on a date, like a real date, you just have to ask. You don’t have to keep trying to mask it with silly things like “de-stressing” after homework. Though I do greatly appreciate that effort.” he just hoped he was right about Wade’s unspoken feelings. He would be massively embarrassed if he was reading everything wrong. He knew there were a lot of times he was fairly socially inept but he was almost positive there was no way he was misunderstanding this. 

Wade seemed to be surprised. Peter had done it. He’d actually called Wade out on his feelings. The scarred man takes his hand and lays it gently on Peter’s ribs, looking into his honey laced brown eyes with a gentle smile. He nods and closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again. 

“Peter, would you like to accompany me to dinner this evening as my boyfriend?” he asks in a very formal and calm voice, though Peter knew Wade well enough to hear the smile hidden under it. 

~What are you doing?~ the voice jumps to life for a moment, startled by the sudden turn of events. ~What the fuck are you doing? What did we say about this?! No dating Peter!~ 

‘Shut up. My life is not your concern.’ Wade finally stood up to the voice and kicked it to the backburner again where it belonged. 

Peter’s grin nearly split his face in half it was so big and excited. He wraps his arms securely around Wade and holds him tight as he nods. “I would be honored, Wade.” 

Wade could feel Peter’s fragile heart racing in time with his own and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’d been right all along. Peter was his and he always has been. 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-

They walked to the restaurant arm in arm, relaxed and at peace with the world. They talked about nothing and everything all at once but never once did they worry about anything.

Peter had grown exponentially more clingy and affectionate, if that was even possible considering how much he loved snuggling before, after officially being claimed as Wade’s boyfriend. 

But it wasn't like the older man minded at all. In fact he enjoyed it very much. 

Wade supposed they both had been kind of considering themselves as a couple for a while now, keeping themselves off the dating market and acting around each other as a couple normally would minus kissing or more intimate acts of affection. They had both been content with what they had but he understood why Peter had finally asked him for clarification of their status. 

He had to admit that it felt good to really finally consider Peter as his boyfriend. Again. He had half expected this to feel like taking a step backwards, going from being married to being boyfriends, but there was no pained feeling of longing any more- no discomfort in thinking about the Peter of the past. And Wade knew Peter had just needed to know that he wasn’t imagining Wade’s feelings for him. 

He looks down at the happy boy on his arm as he opens the door for him, giving a slight bow as Peter entered the restaurant ahead of him. He adored the happy giggle and soft blush he got in return for his actions. 

Wade sat across from Peter in the booth they were seated at and his gentle smile did not fade once all night. He had never really done this with the old Peter- taken him on fancy dates to nice restaurants, that is- and it was one of his bigger regrets about his old life. Their old lives. 

So Wade was striving to correct the mistakes he made before, to do this one right and thank fate for giving him a second chance. 

At the end of their date, Peter and Wade were walking home together, Peter leaning a little heavier on Wade than before thanks to having a glass of wine in his system. He may or may not have been just exaggerating his intoxication levels just a bit to have an excuse to cling to Wade more but the older man found it amusing and cute so he made no comments on it. 

They walked past the alley where they had first met and Peter stopped for a minute, looking at the now empty alley. There was still a dark red stain on the cement from where Wade had nearly bled out but other than that there was really no sign that anyone had ever lived there. 

Peter squeezes Wade’s arm and lays his head against his shoulder, smiling up at him. “Talking to you was the best decision I’ve ever made.” 

“I’m glad you did too baby boy. You saved my life more than you know in both the literal and metaphorical sense.” he chuckles and kisses the top of his head. “Now come on, love. Let’s get home.” And god did it ever feel good to finally have a place to put to that word. That alley had never been home and it never would be even close again. 

 

They were a few blocks from their apartment when they heard something, both of them pausing for a moment to try and see if they’d heard it right. It sounded like the sound of a fight going on. 

Peter looked up at Wade with wide eyes, looking from his boyfriend's eyes to the direction the sound was coming from then back again. ‘Wade?” 

He felt his stomach knot up into a ball of tension. “Peter. Let's go. Now.” his voice had a clipped edge of fear to it. 

They both clearly heard someone screaming for help this time and Peter drops Wade’s arm, taking off towards it without thinking anything through. 

“Peter! Dammit!” Wade yells and sprints after him, though Peter’s lithe frame and long legs gave him a clear advantage for out running the built to fight man. Wade was thankfully fast enough to at least keep Peter in his sights though, until he ducked into an alley. 

Wade’s heart was pounding, his hands shaking and a cold sweat had broken out across his entire body. 

~Told you something bad was going to happen. But you never want to listen to me.~


	9. Everything's gonna be Alright, kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The big finale you all have been waiting for!! Sorry it took a while- holiday madness got me all strung up. There will still be three little bonus chapters but this is the end of the main plot! Hope you all enjoyed!!

Wade stood at the mouth of the alley, looking at the scene before him with horror but rage filled eyes. There were two men standing there, both in long black trench coats that did everything to up the creepy and evil vibe they gave off. They were both standing tall and there was no sign of any victim nearby save for the two that had just blundered right into a perfect trap. 

The taller of the man, probably the leader, began to laugh as he looks at Wade and Peter. “Well I wasn’t expecting his plus one to actually make it this far but I suppose it won’t be that much of a hindrance. I can’t believe how well it worked- can you?” he elbows his partner and laughs. He sounded like a elementary aged child that had won a stupid playground game. 

His partner was no better. “Went off without a hitch!” he cackles and reaches into the inner pocket of his trench coat to pull out a pistol, which had both Peter and Wade on the verge of a shared panic attack. 

They should have run. And Wade knew that they were wasting time in standing there but he was more scared to turn his back on the men than to stand there and face them. 

“W-what the hell is with you guys?” Peter tried to sound assertive and confident as he stuck his hand behind his back and tried to sneakily pull his phone out and hit the emergency call button. 

“Oh Peter Stark. You poor little spoiled child.” the leader hums as he pulls out a gun of his own. “You see, Petey, your father just screwed me out the deal that the rest of my life was resting on and he didn’t even blink twice about it. I think it is time to show him what a taste of his own damn medicine is like.” he smirks, a street light glinting off his teeth at the same time it reflects of the gun. 

Wade balls his fists up but Peter tried to keep an aura of calmness around him. “If you have any other hostages you need to let them go now. You have what you want.” Peter commands and licks his lips fearfully. 

“Other hostages? Oh! Hahah! There’s no other hostage. That was just my partner baiting the trap for me. And it worked.” he grins and Wade swore he saw the devil in that mans eyes. He glanced down and he saw that Peter had 911 on the line, hopefully hearing everything that was happening. Wade knew they could track Peter’s cell signal to their location- he just hoped they were fast enough about it. 

Peter takes a shaky breath and nods. “What do you want with me? Going to hold me captive until my Daddy pays ransom? Do you have any idea how cliche that is?” Wade had to give it to Pete. He had some serious balls to speak to men holding guns that way. 

The mans gleeful expression dropped. “Oh no. This isn’t about ransom. This is about knocking King Tony Stark off his throne.” he cocks his gun and Wade realized what was going to happen and he jumps into action, leaping out from behind Peter and throwing himself full force at the guy, who thankfully was built more like Peter and was easy to take down. They wrestled for a little while before Wade disarmed him and punched him across the jaw repeatedly until he went limp. 

Peter had taken his cue from Wade and had taken to fighting the sidekick, holding his own surprisingly well for someone who had no knowledge of how to fight. He had kicked the gun out of his hand and was now just battling it out fist to fist with Peter landing more blows. 

Wade jumped in as quick as he could and helped to drag the man down knocking his head off the ground and knocking him unconscious. Peter jumped back after Wade took over and he stood still, shaking violently as he watched Wade knock the man out brutally. He wasn’t scared of Wade though, despite how he seemed to be momentarily lost with rage and about to kill that man. Just in shock over the entire situation. 

When Wade was certain the man was unconscious he slowly rose to his feet and wipes his bloody hands across his pants, holding his hands up in a surrendering motion towards Peter to show that he wasn’t going to hurt him. Wade didn’t have a scratch on him from the scuffle. 

“Wade.” Peter whimpers softly and walks forward until he was pressed against Wade’s chest, hugging onto his boyfriend tightly. 

“It’s okay Peter. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Wade continued to whisper as he strokes Peter’s hair and hugs him close. He was reassuring both Peter and himself with that mantra. 

“You called the cops, right baby?” He asks and pushes Peter’s bangs off his forehead before laying a soft kiss there. 

“Yeah. They’re probably on their way now.” Peter’s knees buckle and he collapsed against Wade’s chest, the other catching his weight and holding it up easily as he whispered sweet nothings to him to calm the both of them down. 

A soft, barely audible click reaches Wade’s ears and he turns just in time to see one of the men holding a gun right at Peter’s forehead with his finger on the trigger. “Peter get down!” Wade cries and shoves Peter out of the way just as the deafening bang sounded throughout the dark alley. 

Blinding pain ripped through Wade’s shoulder but it was nothing in comparison to seeing Peter’s small body curled up on the ground.

It didn’t look like he was moving. 

“Petey.” Wade whimpers and stares at his prone form in horror before rage blinded him completely. He turns and grabs the gun out of the man that shot Peter’s hand, slamming the butt of it repeatedly into his skull until he heard the bones break under the force he was using. Blood splattered everywhere but Wade didn’t care. He didn’t stop until he was positive the man was not going to wake up from that. LIkely ever again. 

After he was satisfied and his blood lust had subdued he looks back over his shoulder, feeling his stomach drop to realize that Peter still hasn’t moved. He slowly makes his way over to Peter and drops to his knees beside the boy, slowly extending a shaking hand out to brush over his forehead. There was no bullet hole there at least. 

~Doin a little better than the last time I suppose. Still some pretty shit luck though, huh? Wasn't this a little too close to call?~ 

As soon as Wade’s hand had dipped down below his jaw to feel for a pulse Peter gave a soft gasp and his eyes opened, looking around in fear. “Wade.” he pants softly. 

Wade’s hand froze and a breath he didn’t know he was holding flew out of his lips. “Peter.” he breathes his name like a prayer and rests his hand in his sweet boys hair. 

‘He woke up. It’s not the same scene all over again. He woke up. Peter is okay!’ he felt happy tears fall down his cheeks and he falls over beside Peter, hugging him close to his body. 

“Were you shot anywhere?” he gasps in panic. 

“W-wha- no! No i’m alright. You pushed me out of the way. I just hit my head when I fell but I don’t think I have a concussion. I feel okay.” he reassures him and softly runs his fingers through Wade’s hair, which had actually started to grow in thicker now that he was in a better environment where he was less stressed. 

As they were examining each other Peter makes a shocked sound of terror and pushes Wade into a sitting position. “Wade!! You were shot!” he cries, looking at the bullet hole in his shoulder. 

“What? Oh. Well would ya look at that. Don’t even feel it.” he chuckles and smiles loopily, blood loss and shock already starting to hit him hard. 

~Good job buddy. You finally did something right.~ the voice said with an audible smile as it fades away.

Peter makes Wade lay down and he takes his own shirt off, pressing it tightly to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. “Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. Wade stay with me baby. Don’t close your eyes and don’t fall asleep, okay?” Peter begs with a tear choked voice as he pets Wade’s hair and kept pressure on the wound. “You’re gonna be alright Wade. The police will be there soon. They’re gonna get you to the hospital and you’re gonna be okay. I promise Wade. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’m clingy, right Wade? So don’t go where I can’t follow.” he reaches down and grabs Wade’s uninjured hand, squeezing tightly. 

“That’s… that's what I said to him.” Wade says in a heavy but breathless voice. 

“Said to who? You’re doing so good Wade keep talking to me!” Peter encourages him through his tears. 

“Peter. I said it to Peter.” he takes a deep breath. “H-he didn’t h-hear me though. He-e was dead by the time I g-got to him.” Wade couldn’t seem to form a full sentence properly anymore. “T-there was.. There was never any chance.” he closes his eyes which made Peter scream at him. 

“No Wade! NO!! Keep your eyes open! Stay with me Wade damnit stay with me!” he growls as he hears the sirens coming. “Help is gonna be here soon Wadey. You’re gonna be fine. Wade..” he looks down at Wade's still form. He didn’t look like he was breathing. “WADE!!!” 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. A steady and constant beeping sound was what Wade Wilson awoke to- along with the sterile and horrifying smell and bright florescent lights that was unmistakably the hospital. 

He gives a soft grunting sound and there was a flutter of motion beside him and a warm hand touching his forehead comfortingly. “Wade? Are you awake?” the voice of an angel whispers. He nods in response and opens his mouth, trying to talk through his dry tongue and painfully chapped lips. 

As if the person beside him had read his mind, he felt a plastic cup filled with cool water being pressed to his lips and poured down his throat when he opened his lips for it. 

He slowly opens his eyes, wincing at the painful lights. “Petey?” he croaks in a dry and rough voice. 

“Yes Wade! I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re okay.” he stumbled over himself in an attempt to say all of that at once. 

Reality and the memory of what happened slowly came back to Wade, the disorientation leaving his mind clear at last. A little too clear, in fact. There was something missing from Wade’s mind. That dark and negative cloud that had hung in the back of his mind was gone, leaving nothing in it’s place but a mere memory of it’s existence. The voice was gone. 

“You- I- I saved you?” he questions, checking his facts quickly. 

“You took a bullet for me if that is what you mean.” Peter almost growled at him. “By the way you got so damn lucky. Doctor said it was a clear shot straight through your shoulder. Nothing major damaged. You’re going to be fine.” he said it all with a strange edge to his voice. 

“What’s wrong?” Wade asked, able to tell something was bothering Peter. 

“Back there in the alley you- you said some weird stuff.” 

“Like?” he prompts. 

“Like, you said something to Peter before he died?” his tone of voice basically asked the question without him needing to put it into words. 

“My husband’s name was Peter.” Wade answered without hesitance now. “The Peter I mentioned knowing and always getting confused with you, that was my husband.” 

Peter looked at him with understanding and Wade surprisingly continued to talk.

“The situation was so much the same but very different. Peter was always the nicest guy in the room and he would do anything for anyone, including give up his life for a stranger. Which is exactly what he did. We were taking a late night walk together and he heard someone crying for help. It was an armed mugging. Peter jumped right in without even thinking of the consequences for even a moment. To be fair I really wasn’t either though. I knew my Pete had it under control and I was honestly just figuring the guy had a hyper realistic pellet gun and that no one was going to get hurt. I called the cops while Peter tried to apprehend the mugger.” Wade takes a deep breath to steady himself. 

“The guy shot him point blank right in the temple. Cops told me he probably died immediately and didn’t feel anything.” Wade’s lower lip trembled a little bit as he thought about it but Peter’s warm hand moved to lay over top of Wade’s, squeezing lovingly. 

“I was so scared the same thing was going to happen to you. The situation lined up so perfectly, I knew it was going to end the same but.. It didn’t.” 

“No. It didn’t.” Peter agrees. 

“I took the bullet for you. I- I saved you. I didn’t fail you this time, Petey.” Wade cries softly, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I saved you this time.” 

Peter felt something stir deep inside him, something compelling him to do his next actions without him even knowing why. 

Peter leans forward and softly presses his lips to Wade’s, lingering against them before pulling back and looking at Wade with an expression that made him look older than he was, the way the light shadowed his face gave the apparition of Peter Parker standing in front of him. “Yes you did, Wade. You were never a failure but now you are able to see that.” Peter reached down and took Wade’s hand. 

“Your soulmate is the person who mends your broken heart. And now we know, we really are soulmates. Not even death can separate us. I’ve been here all along, Wade. Watching over you and guiding you in the direction that would heal you. I never wanted you to forget about me in trade for being happy and now you do not have to. I will stand by your side for the rest of our natural lives and for any other life we enter hereafter.” Peter smiles. “I love you Wade.” he whispers before the illusion was over and Peter Stark-Rogers returns. Strangely enough though- Wade was not saddened at all by that fact. Actually, he greeted the boy with a smile and he knew that deep down inside, his husband lay, giving him the chance to redo everything and make a better life for himself. 

And that alone was worth everything to him.


	10. Bonus chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the first of a three part fluff bonus/apology for all the angst. 
> 
> Also for anyone that's interested- I'm working on a new Marvel and Jurassic Park crossover. And yes. There is Spideypool. And the Raptor squad. And a whole bunch of Raptor fluff. 
> 
> It's called Jurassic Marvels if anyone is interested. 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone for reading and giving me so much support on this. You guys are the best!!!

“Just hear those those sleigh bells rin-”

“Wade if you sing that song one more time I swear to all that is holy that I will choke you out with a string of tinsel.” Peter growls from his spot on the couch as he watched Wade decorate the tree that the older man had insisted on getting and wasn't taking no for an answer on. 

“Aww don't be so biter baby boy! It's Christmas time! Be merry and relax for once! Help me decorate our tree!” He dances around excitedly as he starts to sing again. Wade’s Christmas spirit was incorrigible and somehow Peter figured that next year he would be singing Christmas songs well before thanksgiving. As it was they already had the radio playing them pretty much 24/7 now. 

“Wade.” Peter growls and looks up from where he was curled into a tiny Peter blanket burrito on the couch, reading a book that looked about as thick as Wade’s head. “Please. You have your methods of relaxation and I have mine. Let’s keep those separate.” His suggestion was said with a faint smile but was met with resistance. 

“When did you become such a crotchety old man?” Wade pouts and hangs a fake plastic candy cane off the front of his shirt. 

“Bah Humbug.” Peter mutters with a tiny laugh, knowing that would rile his boyfriend right up. 

“Why you old Scrooge you! Get out of my happy living room! You’re not permitted to have your negativity in here!” Wade moves to beat Peter with the candy cane. 

Peter yelps when he was was smacked repeatedly with the decoration and he retaliated by grabbing a reindeer statue off the table and using its antlers to fend off the attacks, laughing at the whole scene. 

By the end of the day, the living room was completely decked out in Christmas spirit and Wade had gotten his way no matter how much Peter had insisted that fifteen strings of lights was too much to hang around. 

`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`

That night Peter and Wade lay in bed together, curled around each other for warmth as they looked out their door at the twinkling lights in the living room. 

Peter was nervous for the days to follow. A lot was going to happen all at once. 

Peter had arranged for Wade to finally meet his family, while at the same time Wade had decided to surprise the other Peter’s aunt for christmas and bring him along. And then there was the secret plan Peter had for when they were alone on Christmas Eve... All the anxiety was building up rapidly inside him. 

But he was holding it together far better than Wade, who now that he was done with furiously decking the halls was busy trying to absorb himself into Peter so he would not have to face the next day.

“Baby. Please relax. Everything will be okay.” Peter tries to comfort him, rubbing his hand over his back as they cuddle closer. 

“No. No it will not. If your parents hate me I am in deep shit.” 

“They will not hate you. They could never hate someone that saved my life and makes me so happy. Once they see us together and reaffirm that I am not being held by your side at gunpoint they will lighten up and love you. I promise. I'm sure Pops will probably rush out and buy you a really nice Christmas gift and Dad… okay I make no promises about him. He can be a stubborn dick.” Peter chuckles. 

“And that's what I'm scared of!” He wails and hides his face in Peter’s armpit. 

“Oh Wade.” Peter chuckles softly and kisses the top of his head. “Even if my father disinherited me it would not stop me from loving you, so you have nothing to worry about. Okay? I promise. Everything will be absolutely fine. You just have to trust me. Can you do that?” He cups his boyfriend's cheek and forces him to raise his head up to look into his eyes. 

Wade nods slowly and leans in, stealing a soft and brief kiss from Peter. “I trust you.” He settles back down and loosens his constricting grip on Peter, now just laying calmly against his chest. 

He was glad the Voice was gone or he was certain the anxiety would not have been pushed away so easily. But he had not heard that negative little fucker since after taking the bullet for Peter. 

His shoulder was still wrapped up tightly in bandages from being shot but it was feeling much better day by day. As soon as Wade had been released from the hospital he bounced right back to his old happy self, finding his temper improved and his will to live returning full force after realizing that his husband had been glaring over him for the past few months. 

Him and Peter fell easily into their old routines without even trying and sometimes Wade still found himself talking about Peter as his husband as opposed to boyfriend and Peter didn't really correct or raise an eyebrow at it. 

The two had easily fallen in love again and they were on top of the world. Wade easily went from 150 pounds to a much more healthy 200, his muscle mass increasing as well as gaining weight from eating regularly. 

Peter had also gained a little weight but his was purely from the amazing meals Wade made them. Peter provided the groceries and Wade turned them into pure magic. He was a little shy about his tummy but Wade insisted that he loved it and every chance he got he would lay his head on Peter's waist and use him as a pillow. 

They both had a healthy gleam in their eyes and they almost never stopped smiling. Peter had aced all his finals and was far more relaxed and zen-like after all had been said and done. (Wade thought Peter had actually stressed out enough to fry some brain cells and that was why he was suddenly so calm but the younger insisted that that was his natural state.) And after everything Wade had gone through and his desire to finally step up to the plate to care for Peter, he had applied for a job and gotten hired immediately at the restaurant he had taken Peter to on their first date and was on his second week of being a cook there. 

He loved his job, loved his life, and most importantly he loved Peter. Now if only he could convince Peter's parents to love him. His younger lover had cleverly evaded telling his Father’s about their relationship, or really about Wade in general until just a few days prior to Christmas taking over Wade’s entire sane mind. 

They had not reacted very well to finding out that Peter had been living with a man they didn't know- especially when they were informed that Peter had met him in an alley- and they were even more horrified to learn that they were in a passionately loving relationship. They were both convinced at that point in Peter’s life that he was asexual or something to that degree so the fact that he was dating anyone was actually a massive shock. 

However they were both adamant about meeting this mysterious man and Peter had convinced Wade to do it through bribery of backrubs, Golden Girls marathons, and cookies. For two days straight. 

If Peter had thought he was the king of anxiety before, he had just been tossed off his throne and melted in a sea of lava by Wade's freaking out about meeting the parents. He wondered if it was this bad when his old relationship had introduced him to his family. Wade insisted he was not that scared of an old lady but Peter doubted the truth of that statement. 

Why? Well because he himself was freaking out over meeting the very same old lady. A part of him knew that it was going to be very emotional, very heartbreaking for everyone, and probably a very awkward event but Wade had insisted he do it. 

After Peter’s death Wade had been too humiliated to face Aunt May again but after rebuilding this relationship with Peter and both of them realizing that a part of old Peter still lived within the new body, the scarred man had finally contacted the old woman and told her that he had a something he had to show her in person... After he'd gotten his ear screamed off for dropping off the map for five and a half years. 

Peter originally thought it was a terrible idea but Wade was very persuasive and they had all finally agreed that they would go to Aunt May’s the day before Christmas. 

However, Peter was still holding it together better than Wade. Maybe because he still had a day to prepare for it while Wade was facing his fear tomorrow. 

“You know I love you, right?” He asks softly, kissing Wade's head as he rubs his side slowly, listening to Wade's soft breathing as well as the faint sound of Christmas music still playing from the living room. 

“I know, Petey.” Wade smiles and closes his eyes. “And you know I feel the same?” 

“Of course I do.” The younger boy pushes his fingers through Wade's hair. He was surprised at how much it had grown in and how dark and rich of a brown color it actually was. He wondered if Wade was secretly using some sort of growth stimulator on it or if it was just coming back naturally. 

Also since Wade had moved in with Peter and gotten off the cold streets, his scars looked much better. They were much less of an inflamed red color and almost blended in with his normal skin, looking more like a bunch of oddly textured tattoos more than anything. Peter rubbed special lotions and ointments on them every night after showering and that was also doing wonders for it. He no longer woke up crying because of how much his skin hurt. 

That didn't mean he wasn't still a lot self conscious about the scars but at least he was completely comfortable around Peter. That much was made obvious by how much time he spent either shirtless or just completely walked around naked in front of the other. 

One thing Peter had learned about living with and dating Wade Wilson was that the man had no shame. Not that he had any reason to have any either. Despite the scars covering his body he had the most built and handsome frame of any man Peter had ever seen, biased opinion or not. 

“Go to sleep, Wade. I know you're going to have a long and hard day tomorrow. But I promise I'm right here with you holding your hand the whole time.” He promises and sings Silent Night along with the radio until he felt Wade doze off completely in his arms. 

-’-’-’-’-’-’-’-’-’-’-’-’-’

The next morning Wade tried everything- and I do mean absolutely everything- humanly possible to avoid getting out of bed. He played sick, claimed he had a fever, than a migraine, and then he just plain stopped moving and responding to anything in an attempt to play dead. He made his body go to a deadweight so Peter was unable to pull him off the bed no matter how much he tried and he refused to listen to Peter begging. 

That was when the threats had to start. It started with Peter threatening to pour a glass of cold water on his head and ended somewhere with “I won't kiss you for a month” before Wade finally gave the most pained moan ever and drug himself out of bed. 

He procrastinated and took an extra long shower, shaving and then washing his face again after that just to kill time. Peter had to come in and chase him out of the bathroom and practically dress the older man himself. 

After he got him dressed he then had to spend a few minutes kneeled in front of Wade kissing his face and encouraging him to not be nervous and reminding the nervous man how much he loved him. 

That finally seemed to loosen Wade up enough that he was able to drag himself out of the bedroom and out of the apartment to wait for the driver Peter had called for. 

They got into the car without incident but as they neared Stark tower Wade began to tense up again. “Babe.” Peter sighs and unbuckled his seatbelt, crawling onto Wade's lap and sitting on top of him as they stop at a red light. 

“Everything is going to be fine.” He reminds and kisses him, gently at first before increasing the pressure and passion levels of the kiss. It ended with the driver clearing his throat as they were parked in front of Starks, Wade pulling his hands out from under Peter's shirt and Peter quickly straightening Wade's hair out again after he'd messed it up. 

They got out and gripped their hands tightly together as they walked in and Peter went directly to the elevator that would lead them to the living quarters part of the building that only family knew about. He hadn't been in this building so long that his childhood home felt like a strange place now. 

But when the elevator reached the destination floor and the burnt smell of Steve’s famous blackened Christmas cookies hit his nose, Peter relaxed and smiled brightly. He had to admit that he kind of missed seeing his father's despite how overbearing they tended to be at times. 

“If I piss myself now will I have a valid excuse to skip out of this whole meeting?” Wade murmurs into Peter's ear before the door opened. 

“Do you really want me to tell my dad’s that the reason my boyfriend couldn't meet them was because he wet himself?” He raises his eyebrows and looks up at Wade questioningly. 

“No I just- ahh too late. I'm boned.” Wade mutters quickly as the elevator doors opened and he was forced to step out and face the family. 

 

Peter smiles and takes his hand, pulling Wade out of the elevator and into the family sitting room. “Dad! Pops! We’re here!” He calls enthusiastically into the empty room. Immediately there was the sound of feet rushing, a loud crash, and Tony cursing whatever he knocked over, as well as other feet continuing to run down the hall while Tony mixed his mess. 

‘Good.’ Wade thinks. ‘I'd rather meet the nice one first. Maybe he won't laugh if I start crying!’ 

As soon as he'd thought that, the perfectly sculptured frame of Steve Rogers rounded the corner and Wade was pretty certain he did pee himself just a tiny bit for an entirely different reason. 

“Peter!” The golden haired man calls as he runs forward, meeting Peter halfway before scooping his adopted son into his arms with a bright smile that immediately made Wade feel safe no matter how petrified he was. 

“Pops! I missed you!” Peter laughs as he hugs his more permissive and laid back parent excitedly. 

Wade watched and listened to them exchange greetings for a few moments before Peter was excitedly waving him over, seeming to now be one hundred percent at ease with everything. “Come here Wade!” He grins. 

Wade's feet moved on autopilot and his hand slowly stuck out in front of his body as he approached the epitome of male perfection that was Peter's father. “H-hello sir. It-its an honor to meet you finally. You did a great job raising Peter.” Besides the stutter he thought that was a fairly decent introduction. So he had to at least try to convince himself so he didn't fall into a puddle of shame and regret on the floor. 

Thankfully Steve’s smile was nothing but kind and understanding. “Hello Wade. It is nice to meet you as well. I was a little surprised to hear about you at all, this is the first time Peter has ever expressed any interest in anyone, but you seem like a decent man.” 

“He probably never told you guys about anyone because he thought they'd piss their pants! I know I'm about to!” Wade blurts out before this thing called a filter could kick in and block it. 

‘Why did I say that. Oh my god why did I say that?’ 

To his shock though, the man just laughed and smiled. “Oh Wade. I'm not the one you need to be scared of. Honestly you don't have to be afraid of my husband either, he's all bark and no bite, really.” 

No sooner did he say that than the shorter man came up a staircase, looking disheveled at best with a streak of grease across his cheek. “Sorry about that, Peter made me screw everything up again.” He smiles as he pulls his taller son into a hug, ruffling his hair which triggered Peter to whine about grease being a pain to get out of his hair and something about smelling like a car for days after. 

Wade just stood beside the other man and waited for the spotlight to fall on him like he knew it would. He tried to brace himself and when Tony turned his gaze on him the best he could hope for was that his sweat was not visible and his knees were not shaking too hard. 

“So you're the boyfriend/roommate, right?” He stalks towards Wade and walks an examining circle around him, hands crossed behind his back in a menacing stance. “Occupation?” 

“Chef, sir. Italian restaurant. Also full time personal cook for Peter as well as his unofficial therapist and space heater.” 

‘Should have cut that off at Personal chef. Way to over speak.’ 

“Hm. Prior occupations?” Tony hums thoughtfully. 

“Military, didn't end well, and a whole bunch of odds and end jobs that never really worked out. I've made some weak attempts before but I found what I like and what I'm good at so this one will stick, I hope.” 

“Intentions for my son?” 

“Tony please don't come off as being so-” Steve tried to call Tony back a bit but he wasn't having it. 

“Steve. Shush.” He turned his calculating gaze back to Wade. “Proceed.” 

“Right. Uhh..intentions. For Peter. How do I say to without sounding nuts?” He noticed Tony tense up at that and he quickly shakes his head. “Not in like a rapey or serial killer kind of way just in like- corny, sappy, Hallmark movie channel kind of way. I guess the best way to put it is that I want to be there for Peter. I want to be his soft place to land whenever things get rough, I want to be his rock and his home, because god knows he is that for me. Peter is deeply special to me and I'm so grateful to have him in my life.” 

Tony seemed to be appeased by that answer and he nods, uncrossing his hands from behind his back and extending one to Wade. “Tony Stark. Pleasure to meet you.” 

“Wade Wilson. The pleasure is mine.” He finally smiles and latches his hand onto Tony’s with a tight and secure grip, looking into his eyes proudly. No more being afraid. 

The family plus one had a nice day together, getting to know one another in Wade's case and catching up in everyone else's. Wade was happy to see Peter so content with his family and he was almost jealous of the warm and friendly dynamic the unlikely and weird family had. 

At one point in the day Peter's uncle Clint had popped in just to briefly introduce himself, threaten to send an arrow into Wade's eyeball if he broke Peter’s heart and then run off again, leaving Wade rattled with fear for a little while afterwards despite having no intentions of trashing Peter’s golden heart. 

They ate a nice dinner together and by the end of the night, Wade had made an incredible impression on the two older men, shocking them with all his weird stories of bravery and heartbreak. They both could tell how genuine and broken the man was and they approved of him completely at the end of everything. Even Tony had to admit that he had a weird sort of respect for the odd man and everything he’s been through. 

And when Wade shared his story about saving Peter’s life and taking the bullet for him, he was pretty sure he saw Steve move to try and hug him before he caught and stopped himself. 

He felt much more confident and alright with himself by the end of the evening, knowing that he had managed to not only survive meeting Peter’s parents but had actually managed to make them like him! Ade was thrilled. 

As they were getting ready to leave Peter leaned up on his tiptoes and kissed Wade’s cheek softly and asked him to go wait in the lobby for a moment as he said goodbye to his father's. Wade thought nothing suspicious about it and he rode the elevator down with a happy grin on his face. 

When Peter joined him on the bottom ground floor of the tower his face was bright red and he was smiling. When Wade asked him what was wrong he just told Wade that Steve had given him a half assed attempt at the sex talk and Wade just laughed gleefully, muttering about wishing he was there to witness that. 

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-

When they got home they took a quick shower together and than collapsed in bed. Wade immediately turned into an octopus and crushed Peter to his chest. They briefly discussed the events of the night and Peter congratulated Wade on keeping himself together so well and told him that he was proud of him. 

Wade kissed Peter’s forehead and smiles. “And you know what’s great baby boy? Tomorrow it’s your turn to be scared.” he smirks and closes his eyes. 

“Have fun laying awake all night thinking about that.” he says in a sing-songy voice, seeing as that was what had ended up happening he was just enjoying the fact that the tables were going to turn so quick on Peter. 

“I hate you, Wade.” 

“I love you too, baby boy.”


	11. Bonus chapter part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written very awkwardly and is probably subject to later revision. But. Yeah. He's the next part.

As Wade had predicted, when he woke up in the morning Peter was sitting up beside him, playing with the silky edge of his favorite blanket that was horribly frayed from Peter’s constant messing with it. The boys gaze was a million miles away as he worried over how the day was to play out for them. 

“How much did you sleep?” Wade asks in a gruff voice as he rolls over and stretches out, his hips popping loudly as he extends his legs downward from the curled position he usually slept in both from habit and comfort. 

“Probably only twenty or so minutes.” Peter admitted honestly, knowing he couldn’t hide his lack of rest from his boyfriend. Wade knew him too well. 

“It won’t be that bad, Petey.” Wade tried to comfort as he sits up slowly, hand rubbing over the warm and smooth expanse of his back. 

“Wade I’m going to meet the person that used to be my Aunt that I now have no relation to except for maybe that small part of me that is still your old husband that just pops up every so often in my mentality. How exactly were you planning to tell her about this? Her Nephew died a tragic death but now five years later he’s sort of back but he’s in a different body, lived a completely different lifestyle, and the only thing he even remembers at all about any of it is his boyfriend! Do you know how nuts that sounds?!” 

“Sure it does.” Wade says as he remains perfectly calm. He’d already planned everything out pretty well and was prepared for almost everything that could happen today- good or bad. “But Miss May is probably the most calm and understanding old woman I’ve ever met. If anyone can handle this weird thing that is our reality it is her.” 

“But what about me handling it?” Peter whimpers softly. Peter had gotten much better at dealing with his anxiety since he and Wade had fallen together but there were still things that triggered an attack and Wade would do anything to prevent his lover from having a meltdown, especially over something like this. 

“Baby. You'll be fine.” Wade pulls Peter down into his arms and kisses his forehead softly, “Please. If I got through yesterday you can make it through today. You got this.” he could feel Peter trembling slightly in his arms and it broke his heart a little. 

“I'm going to make you sleep on the couch for an indefinite amount of time if this all ends badly.” It was obvious from his tone that Peter was just joking and was only scared about this. 

“I'll accept that punishment.” Wade nods and smiles a little. “But I doubt it'll come to that. I'm the one more likely to get ripped on since I cut myself out of her life after Pete died.” 

“Bad decision on your part.” He says with a knowing quirk of the eyebrow.  
“Yeah. I know. I wasn't thinking clearly. I owe her a serious apology.” Wade at least had developed the humility to admit it. 

“I'm sure you do. Alright. Let's do this.” Peter cracks his knuckles and stands up, looking like he was very obviously just putting on a brave front. 

Wade smiles and turns his head with his hands, cracking his neck loudly which made Peter jump a little and glare at Wade. “Stop. Doing. That!!! You know it scares me!” 

“No shit that's why I do it!” Wade laughs. 

“You won't be laughing when you break your neck or screw your spine up from doing it too often!” Peter glowers at him darkly and grabs a pillow off the bed, smacking him with the pillow hard before dropping the pillow back on the bed and disappearing into the bathroom, the sound of Wade’s ringing laugh following him until he shut the door with a loud bang. 

Wade knew Peter just got cranky when he was anxious so he didn’t take his harsh tone or door slamming as a personal thing. Wade felt bad about insisting they do this but to be fair Peter had put him through almost the same shit yesterday and fair was fair! Plus he’d already told May he was going to come and he was not about to break another promise to his favorite sweet old lady. 

Wade waited patiently until Peter came out of the bathroom and then he began smothering him in hugs and love, kissing his cheek and all over the rest of his face, calling him as many sweet terms of endearment as possible and just trying to make him feel good about everything. 

It took a bit of work but eventually Peter settled down and started caving into Wade’s pushy advances, tense body relaxing in Wade’s arms and starting to hum responses to his praising. “Alright alright. Fine. I’ll smile and pretend everything's okay.” 

“I don’t want you to pretend anything.” Wade nips at his ear. “I want you to really be okay with this. It’s not going to be as bad as you’re thinking it will.” 

“You do not know that.” Peter argues firmly. 

“Babe. Please. You’re spooking yourself with your own negative attitude.” Wade rolls his eyes. “Come on. Dressed and ready to go in ten.” he gives Peter a sharp smack on the ass and goes to the kitchen to make them a quick breakfast. 

When Peter joined Wade in the kitchen, the man was pouring syrup over a monstrous pile of toaster waffles. While the Canadian man was a pancake purist- he didn’t seem to have issues with using frozen waffles if they were in a hurry. 

Peter sits on the bar stool in front of the counter and pulls his plate in front of him, cutting into the sticky mess on the plate and starting to shovel it in with little to no care. 

Wade and Peter finished eating at roughly the same time and they didn't exchange many words when they moved out to go to Aunt Mays. Wade held Peter's hand the whole way and was whistling Christmas tunes to annoy Peter and distract him from his anxiety. 

The more they walked in a certain direction the more Peter began to suffer from a weird nostalgic feeling that had been popping up a lot with certain things that he himself has no personal experience with. He's never been in this part of the neighborhood before yet he could remember little things about it and it all felt eerily familiar. As they walk up the onto a porch Peter felt like almost crying and he knew it wasn't himself. He didn't say anything to Wade though. He now felt even more obligated to do this. He had to let Peters get some closure. 

Wade knocks enthusiastically on the door and an older woman with freeing black hair could be seen rushing forward through the glass paned door. She opened it and pulls Wade into a tight hug before she rears back and placed a fairly hard smack across his cheek. She didn't seem to notice Peter since all her anger was currently focused on his poor boyfriend. 

“Wade Wilson how dare you just disappear like that?! I was worried sick about what had happened to you!” She scolds furiously and grabs the front of his shirt and looked ready to throttle him again before Peter interrupted by clearing his throat softly. 

“Um..excuse me, ma'am, could you maybe not break my boyfriends face? Thank you.” He says in a shy and soft voice. 

Wade watched the range of expressions flit across Mays face, from disbelieve, to shock, to pain, before finally settling on just plain confusion. “Both of you come inside right now.” She finally say slowly. “You've got a lot of explaining to do.” 

Wade did most of the talking, explaining all the way from his disappearance to finding Peter and everything that had happened after that. As he’d predicted she took it all in stride but she started crying when she finally turned to face Peter. 

The boy had tears falling down his own cheeks and he hugs her tightly. “I'm sorry Aunt May. I may not be biologically related to you anymore but I'm still your nephew.” He says with a heartbroken promise as he holds the sobbing woman. They both knew that it wasn't all cries of sorrow though. She was happy for Wade and happy that Peter had found him. 

Wade joins in on the family hug, both parties wrapping one arm around his large form and they all were smiling. It felt like nothing had changed despite how everything had. 

By the end of the night Peter had that same sense of knowing everything about May Parker without really knowing anything about her. She had taken him in immediately and treated him exactly how she had treated her nephew. 

He loved her immediately and was happy to have an amazing aunt like her. He also got a kick out of the way she actually seemed to intimidate the 6’2 form that was Wade with just a single glance. He also assumed nothing had changed between them despite Wade's prolonged absence. She adopted him right back into her life but she did warn to feed him nothing but meatloaf if he ever pulled a vanishing act like that again, which he was very gracious in apologizing for. 

Both men and the woman were in high spirits when parting time came. Wade wanted to get home before nine to catch It's a Wonderful Life so they wrapped their meeting up and were ushered out the door and made to swear to keep in touch, which they both planned to act on. 

As they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk Peter couldn't stop smiling. 

“So I was right, right?” Wade smirks and nudges him with his elbow. 

“Shut up Wade. Just shut up.” Peter rolls his eyes and squeezes his hand. He loved Wade and he knew that he had to do what he was going to do tomorrow. 

There was no doubt left in his mind.


	12. Final chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys this is it for this one. I feel like it's kinda rushed and sloppy but it gets the point across haha. 
> 
> I just want to give a big pile of thanks to everyone who read, kudo'ed, and commented on this thing. You guys are so great. 
> 
> If you like my writing style feel feee to check out my other fanfic Jurassic Marvels! 
> 
> Thank you all again!

“Petey! Petey wake up! It’s Christmas morning baby boy!” An all too happy for, Jesus Christ five in the morning, voice yells. 

“Wade. Too early. Lemme sleep.” Peter complains into his pillow and squeezes it tighter to his face. 

“No! Get up!” Wade shakes Peter’s shoulder insistently and eventually just annoyed the younger boy enough that he managed to drag himself out to the living room. Only to pass back out on the couch but still. At least he'd moved. 

Wade was still not satisfied so he jumped on the couch, crushing Peter’s smaller frame to the couch. “Peterrrrr don’t be such a Grinch.” 

“I’m going to lock you outside again if you don’t let me sleep. It will still be Christmas at 7. Let. Me. Sleep.” Peter’s voice was rough and scratchy from sleep. He was not a happy camper at all. He never has been a morning person. 

“Pleaseeee Peteyyyy? Please please please wake up? I wanna open presents!” 

“Wade you are a grown ass man. Open your presents. You don’t need supervision for it.” 

“Don’t you want to open yours?” 

“Yes. When it is not five in the morning. It is too early for this shit. Now go away.” he shoves at Wade when he felt his body hovering close and he pulls the thick and fuzzy blanket off the back of the couch, wrapping it around himself completely as he tries with all his might to go back to sleep. 

Wade just wasn’t having it though and after a few more heated curse words being thrown at his head he’d finally coaxed the grouchy blanket burrito into an upright position so he could unwrap presents. Peter kind of just wanted to kill Wade and let the silence be his present but he knew he would just miss the idiot too much afterwards. Wade usually was good about not waking Peter up in the morning, Christmas just seemed to be the exception. 

Which Peter supposed was fair but he still was not amused by it. Not really. It wasn’t like Wade still believed in Santa or anything. 

“Here you go sweetums! Let’s see what Santa brought you this year!” 

….He stands corrected. The giant manchild he was in love with did indeed believe in santa. 

He takes the meticulously wrapped package and weighs it in his hand. Wade did such a beautiful job wrapping things while Peter pretty much just slapped some messy carnage of wrapping paper on a box and called it a day. It almost made him feel a little self conscious.

There were very few presents under the tree for each other. They had only been together for about a month so Peter had not been able to do his year round shopping routine he usually did for gifts and Wade was still broke and was not about to ask Peter for money so he could buy him a Christmas gift with it. Somehow Peter got the feeling Wade’s gifts were going to be more heartfelt than actually useful. 

And he was right of course. When all was said and done, Peter had received a coffee mug that was crudely painted with a heart and ‘W+P’ on it, a refrigerator magnet from one of the billion New York gift shops, and a whole stockpile of candy canes of different flavors from traditional mint to some weird fruity flavors. He appreciated the thought Wade had put into everything though. The man never failed to be a genuine sweetheart where it counted. 

In turn, Peter had gotten Wade a new wristwatch since his old one looked to be on the verge of falling apart, some new cookbooks and cooking utensils that he’s heard the man complain about wishing he had while cooking meals for them, as well as a generous amazon gift card so his boyfriend could shop around and buy whatever he wanted to without feeling guilty for using Peter’s money and account. He also got him a box of his favorite Hello Kitty bandaids for when he hurts himself and a cute little pillow shaped like that white cat's head so Wade could cuddle it. He seemed very pleased by that. 

When all was said and done, Wade gave Peter permission to fall back asleep but the boy was already awake enough by that point so they just curled up on the couch together, wrapped themselves in the blanket and settled in to watch The Christmas Story marathon. 

After the third time of watching that movie, Peter’s stomach started to complain so Wade jumped up to make them a lovely brunch. 

Peter knew that this was what he was meant to live for. Lazy days spent between him and Wade, who he had no doubt was his actual soulmate. Neither of them had ever believed in that sort of thing until now but after all they had been through there was not a doubt in either of their minds. 

Throughout the day, Peter’s mind kept drifting to the little black box he had tucked away in his bedroom. He was surprised Wade had not noticed it yet. He’d been very sneaky while getting things set, and so far his diversion has worked flawlessly. He was just waiting for the perfect time to do it. 

That time seemed to come after they had eaten a lovely dinner that Wade had spent the rest of the day since brunch preparing. He’d made almost every holiday dish he could think of, including a nice sized ham, a green bean casserole, potato salad, some strange jello dish that was surprisingly not horrible, baked beans, and a ridiculously fancy looking apple pie. Peter had been left in shock when he first saw the insane amounts of food but he had not dared to criticize Wade for it. He just smiled and called his Father’s and told them that he would be bringing a massive amount of leftovers for them the next day. 

Everyone was happy and in a wonderful mood. But Peter’s little secret was gnawing him up inside so after they finished putting all their leftovers in the fridge and washed the dishes, Peter pulls Wade to the living room and dims the lights so there were only the softly twinkling little fairy lights illuminating their faces. 

Not even the shadows of the room could mask the fear in Peter’s face. Wade immediately was concerned and cups his cheek gently in his large and calloused hand. “Peter? Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah. Everything is perfect, Wade. Just perfect.” he smiles and takes a deep breath and slowly lowers himself to one knee. “Everything but one thing, that is. And that would be that, we were married once, years ago, but we are not now. We haven’t known each other for very long like this, but lets face it we already know everything about each other on a very deep level. We’ve always known each other. I have fallen for you time after time and I don’t expect that to stop any time soon. So for this life, and hopefully for the rest of our eternity together, Wade Wilson, will you marry me?” he pulls his little box out and holds a ring up to Wade. 

He looked at the ring in the box and then pulls the chain out of his shirt, looking at it and laughing when he found Peter’s class ring attached to his neck instead of the old ring. “You sneaky little devil you.” he grins. “How did you manage that?” 

“You know how you’re a really deep sleeper? Works great to my advantage sometimes.” Peter grins. “You still haven't answered me yknow..” 

“Yes. Of course. The answer is yes!” Wade laughs and pulls Peter up to his feet, giving him a soft and loving kiss. “Like if I could ever answer anything else.” 

“Hey ya never know.” Peter laughs and pulls the ring from the box, slipping Wade’s old wedding ring onto his finger. “Mind if I take my own ring back? I would like to wear it again.” 

Wade nods enthusiastically and slips the chain off his neck, pulling the ring off and slowly slipping it onto Peter’s finger. It was a perfect fit. “You know I haven’t gone a single moment in five whole years without that ring being around my neck. And i could not possibly be any happier to finally have it gone.” he grins and pulls Peter into another kiss. “I love you, Peter.” 

“I love you too Wade. And guess what makes this even better?” he pulls his face back enough to smile devilishly at him.   
“What?” Wade tilts his head in confusion. 

“Now we get to tell everyone about our engagement!” 

“OH COME ON WASN’T IT TRAUMATISING ENOUGH JUST MEETING THEM?!” 

But in the end.. Wade really didn’t care because he had his Peter right by his side where he belonged and everything, for once, was really honestly okay.


End file.
